Final Destination
by The Official Demonator
Summary: When a young woman is involved in a serious car accident, she gets news she may never walk again. She wants to do whatever it takes to be able to stand up on her own, and maybe, just maybe, meeting an alien race can help her find the courage she needs.
1. Chapter 1

**New story I'm trying. :) I've had this typed up for months.. just never decided to post it until now.**

**Notes: I'm not a police officer, nor a medical officer, so I dunno if the stuff I type is true. If I made a mistake, let me know. :D It's fiction, so it's not like it matters anyways. xD**

**On to the story!**

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><p><em>Midnight in the dark alleys of New York was one of the scariest places to be. Especially if a car was speeding down each and every one like a bat out of hell. Not only were the sounds of an engine echoing throughout the night disturbing.. but the sounds of a female's screams was what had most concerned.<em>

_"Tom, stop the car!" She yelled, trying not to cry. It was bad enough she was angry at her so-called boyfriend, but crying would only piss him off more as well. "Tom! Stop it! Seriously, pull over!"_

_"Shut up!" He yelled back to her, trying to maneuver around garbage cans, but ended up crashing into them anyways. She could smell the alcohol in his breath as he panted from the excitement. The thrill of driving drunk. Not able to take it anymore, she reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. She tried to jerk it to the side, hoping it would crash into a wall. Anything was better than crashing into another vehicle. Unfortunately, he shoved her away. "Stop it, you stupid bitch!"_

_Gaining control of the vehicle.. or what seemed like some control, he kept his normal thirty to forty miles an hour speed through the thin alley ways and didn't even touch the brake once. She had begun to cry, having seen her life flash before her eyes too many times in just five minutes._

_"Just please stop," She whispered, but it wasn't loud enough for him to hear. She no longer cared what happened to her. Even Hell was better than this._

_She stared out the window as the car began to jerk around what appeared to be orange construction barrels and signs. Just further down the road that they had pulled onto, a series of heavy machinery were moving around furiously, trying to get their work done and she closed her eyes, expecting the worst._

_A sudden yell from him and her eyes shot open, and then widened when she saw what they were heading towards. A second pair of head lights illuminated the night and the sound of a horn repeatedly went off. He slammed the brakes, but even that was not enough._

_Minutes later and the sound of sirens echoed throughout the alley ways. Lights soon flashed and a stream of oil, gas and blood lead the ambulances to the scene._

_Men and women jumped out of the back of them and the front of them. Fire trucks sped down the street and the fire fighters jumped out, preparing their hose just in case of fire._

_"Get 'em out!" She heard somebody yell. Was Tom still alive? She tried to move her head but all she could see was blackness. Was she unconscious? Was she dreaming? She felt and heard the metal being cut apart as more yelling erupted. "Hurry, get her out!" Her? There was Tom, too. Why didn't they say them again?_

_"He's gone," She heard somebody, a different voice, say. "Get the girl. She's alive."_

_"What about the other vehicle?"_

_"He's dead, too."_

_Tears flowed down her face. Dead? And she was alive? Oh, how she'd rather be dead right now. Anything was better than the pain she was feeling. The agony._

_Finally freedom was near as she felt her door being pulled away from its hinges. A soft wind touched her sensitive wounds, but made them feel better. As she felt strong arms wrap around her to pick her up, she tried to move her legs to help, but for some reason she could not feel them._

_What happened to her?_

_"Get her on the stretcher now!" A deeper voice rang in her ears. This voice almost sounded mechanical in nature. Now she could see slightly better, but her vision was still blurred. Looking up, bright lights suddenly flashed into her eyes. "I'm doing a check right now. The quicker I get it over with, the sooner she can reach the hospital, so hurry and get her in that rigid neck collar and on that slagging carrying board!"_

_Everything went black._

* * *

><p>The sound of beeping was what awoke Janice Gearing and brought reality back to her life. She tried to sit up, but a searing pain went through her body, making her stay where she was. Was she at home? She opened her eyes. The room was nearly white. She rest on a long, white bed with bars on the side. An IV was in her arm and computers and whatnot surrounded her. A neck collar was around her, preventing her head from moving too much.<p>

She was in a hospital, and it was then she realized her dream was not a dream.

"Ah, you're awake," She recognized that deeper voice, except it didn't sound as mechanical as she first heard it. Maybe it was the accident that made it sound strange.

She looked over and was surprised to see a young looking man, at least in his early thirties, smiling at her. His glasses made him appear older. She nodded her head slowly. "What.. hap-pened?" She raised an eyebrow after she spoke. Something was wrong with her voice, too.

"I wouldn't speak too much," He said with a sigh as he stepped forward, taking off his glasses. "At least until I ask you some questions. You were in a serious car accident and you've sustained an unbelievable amount of wounds. You're lucky you survived." She still seemed confused, so he continued. "We've discovered that the male you were driving with had a 0.17 blood alcohol level and he was in control of the vehicle." The man's eyes slit. "Yet you seemed to not have been drinking at all."

Janice's eyes watered again. What was he trying to say? "I- I don't.. under-understand."

"First, let me just tell you that my name is Ratchet. I'm a Chief Medical Officer for a military base, but I was moved to this hospital recently." He paused. "Also, I think it's best you should know that because the man you were driving with-"

"Tom," She whispered.

He stopped and then nodded slowly. "_Tom_. Because Tom was driving under the influence of alcohol, crashed into a vehicle and killed the driver inside, _and _because you were not intoxicated, yet you were not driving, _you_ may be the one to face charges for vehicular manslaughter."

Using her free hand, she placed it over her mouth, tears streaming down her face rapidly now. Why would she be accused? She didn't kill him! Her eyes shut tightly and she began to sob.

"Also," He sighed, knowing she was likely innocent. "I'm no police officer, and I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I believe that since the vehicle your car crashed into was a small construction vehicle, and the man inside was indeed deceased, every fine or time in jail is doubled."

Why was he telling her this? She already felt like the weight of the world was being pushed against her. Now she had to face the charges of _murder_? "I-" She hiccupped. "I- tried to drive. He-, Tom- wouldn't- he wouldn't let me. He forced me into the other side of the car." Her voice was choppy, but Ratchet was still listening intently. She gasped out a breath. "He forced me inside. I was just- picking him up from the b-bar."

"I'm just a Medical Officer. I don't know all of the rules," He sighed. He felt like a failure and he was making her feel worse. Unfortunately, she'd have to know the truth. "But since you just woke up after about two days since the accident, I can say that you look better than when I first brought you in."

"What's wrong with me?" She asked, when she noticed that she still could not move her legs.

He looked grim. "I'm afraid you're going through SCI, or what's known as spinal cord injury." He sighed and his eyes softened. He almost looked upset. "We placed you in surgery to remove fragments of bone, fractured vertebrae or anything else we believe could help. Unfortunately, what you're feeling now is permanent. There's no cure."

"I can never walk?" She asked, trying not to cry. It was amazing how your life could easily flip inside out within the blink of an eye. "A-again?"

He looked down. "There are treatments-"

"But no cure?" She demanded, her voice rising in volume. Ratchet could tell she was gaining her voice back quickly.

"It's difficult," He began," For me to come up with an accurate prognosis. I'm trying my best to help you. We have medications, rehabilitations, ongoing care and more that can help, but I'm afraid things just aren't looking very bright."

"What about my charges?" She asked slowly, not wanting to hear his answer.

He sighed. "I believe there's nothing they can do until you've recovered, which will likely be between a week to six months. That is, if you _do _recover. Though, I'm afraid you may have to be in a wheelchair for.. a long time."

"You mean forever?" She whispered, but loud enough for him to hear.

He nodded. "Possibly, but don't let my words frighten you."

Despite the bad news she was receiving, she could sense there was something wrong with him. "You seem.. you seem like you're not used to working at a place like this."

He chuckled. "Not at all. I just started here. Like I said, I used to work in the military as a CMO. I had my own medical bay. I did everything by myself with little assistance. I've seen dozens if not hundreds die. You might call me a little bit of a hard ass to be working at a hospital such as this, but I get my duties done."

For a second she seemed to forget about her injuries. She replied as she watched him examine the computers and other machines in the room and changed her IV, "Do you really think they'll charge me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You said you were forced. There's no way to really _prove_ that, but it would make sense. His alcohol level proved he could have caused some sort of violence."

She shook her head. "I don't want what he did to be my burden." She looked away and closed her eyes and Ratchet could feel his sorrow start to seep through. "He was such an asshole. I was going to leave him that night."

"How about this," Ratchet began. "If the police stop in, I'll inform them of what happened. Maybe you can get away from the jail time, but I'm not sure about a fine."

"You think they'll listen to you?" She asked, her eyes seeming to sparkle with little hope.

He smiled faintly. "I'm not sure, but, I know some people who they _might_ listen to."

"Like who?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Ratchet was surprised her vocals had gotten better quickly. It was likely just a short thing anyway.

He continued to smile. "Well, I used to live with military guys and girls all year 'round. I happen to know some weapons specialists who might be able to help out. Plus my lead- I mean, my _boss_ could be of assistance."

She smiled at him. Clearly she was thankful for what he was trying to do for her. "I appreciate that. Thank you."

He nodded, but his smile faded. "But, for now, let's focus on getting you taken care of, alright?" Then he got to work immediately.

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><p>A week and a half had gone by for Janice. Laying in that bed all day for the past few days made her feel cramped and even more tired. She wanted to sleep all the time, but she hated it. She wished she could walk, or at least feel her legs. When her doctor, Ratchet, was nowhere in sight, she'd cry to herself silently.<p>

She hated how her life was going right now. She frowned suddenly, but it was a confused frown. Did she just feel her leg for a split second? Or was it she just missed it so much, she was just feeling things that weren't actually happening?

Since she had been eating and drinking normally, she had requested the IV be taken off. Ratchet had obliged. Sitting up, she couldn't bend her neck due to the neck collar, so she kinda ducked down to look at her legs. Pain shot up her back and she wished she didn't. Groaning slightly, she sat up a bit straighter, trying to ease the pain, but it remained.

Scooting herself further down the other end of the bed, she was able to see that her legs were dangling off, but she hardly noticed because she couldn't feel them. She eyed the object across the room. A wheelchair. She just wanted to sit in it.

She knew she should wait for Ratchet to return, but she also knew he wasn't going to put her in it for at least another day or two. She couldn't wait.

As she could feel the pressure of her feet touching the ground, she knew this would be a challenge. She was in serious pain, but she didn't care much.

Of course, she had no idea what kind of trouble she could get herself into. She could fall and hurt herself more, maybe even suffer for the rest of her life. Isn't that what she was doing anyway?

Shaking it off, she gripped the mattress and slid to her knees, trying not to bend her back. Putting the palms of her hands on the floor, she began to crawl, flinching in slight pain, but her back was still straight. Making it to the wheelchair, she got back on her knees alone and grabbed the chair. Pulling herself up with all of her strength, she was satisfied when her rear met the seat.

She had done it.

Just then, Ratchet had walked in and stopped, nearly dropping the clip board in his hand. "Oh my Primus, Janice!" He ran over to her side. "How on Earth did you get over there? Did you walk?" A part of him sounded worried, but a part of him sounded amazed.

The only thing Janice could think of as a reply was, "What's Primus?"

Ratchet stuttered, but then shook it off. "How did you get over here?" He asked her, glaring. "You shouldn't have moved. You could have made your injuries worse."

"I just wanted to get out of bed." She shrugged like it was nothing, and maybe that was what made Ratchet angrier. "I crawled."

He seemed infuriated. "You don't understand the severity of your injuries! You could have lost nerve in another part of your body. Your spine could have broken more. A vertebrae could have been loose! You never know what could happen until it does!"

She flinched. "Dr. Ratchet, I-"

"Just," He put a hand up to her. "Just don't." He shook his head. "You don't understand how many times I've seen death occur. Don't add yourself to the list, Janice."

She swallowed hard. His words were sinking in. She didn't know what it felt like to see somebody die as many times as he had. She couldn't even imagine how bad she made him feel. "I'm.. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," He sighed, to her surprise. Then he scratched his head. "And I suppose since you're in the wheelchair, I might as well take you outside for some fresh air."

When she saw his smile, she did too. "I'd like that a lot. Please."

Tossing the clip board on the desk in the room, he turned around and walked behind her. Holding the handles, he began to push her forward. After opening the door, he got behind her again and pushed her in the hallway.

Finally, they made it outside and he parked the wheelchair over by the entrance to the hospital. Janice sighed in the fresh air. It felt good to feel it flowing in her lungs. And it felt good to hear the sounds of nature in her ears again.

Ratchet couldn't help but stare at her, and he felt lost in her eyes. So blue. Despite the scars and minor bruises blemishing her face, he could tell that she would be a young, attractive woman. He smiled as he watched her grin and take in the fresh air. It always made him feel good that he was helping somebody. "How are you feeling?"

She nodded as best as she could with the neck collar around her. "I feel good. Well, better, at least."

He gave a proud look. "Good, good. At least you seem to be recovering as far as other injuries. Soon your bruises and cuts will go away and you'll start looking back to normal." He chuckled. "I'm afraid there isn't much for the scars we can do."

She shrugged. "That's alright. I'm proud of all my scars anyway," She winked. "I survived, and that's all that matters to me."

He smiled at this. "You're very proud. Is it in the family?" He joked with a chuckle.

She laughed. "I guess so. My father was always proud. Kinda hard-headed, too, but always proud." She smiled and looked up at the clouds, "My mother was a sweet woman. She was perfect for my dad."

"Ah!" Ratchet nearly face palmed himself. "I forgot to mention that your parents were not informed of your accident. I could not find their location or phone number anywh-"

"They passed away a long time ago," She interrupted. Ratchet froze, not sure what to say. His eyes softened.

"I apologize for bringing it up, then." His eyes looked down. Janice got the feeling he really _was_ sorry.

She smiled faintly and shrugged. "It's all over with and in the past. They were great parents, but fate hates me, so.." She trailed off.

He looked up and furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't say that. You survived a fatal car crash. If fate truly hated you, you wouldn't be talking to me."

"Unless fate wants me to suffer," She pointed out.

Ratchet looked hurt, but he wasn't being serious. "Oh, so I assume talking to me is suffering to you."

She laughed aloud, unfortunately hurting herself, but she tried to ignore the pain. She could barely stop. "No! I didn't mean it like _that_." She giggled. "I meant suffering with the injuries!"

"Then fate must love me, because I'm always looking for a patient to heal," He grinned. Janice giggled again. He was funny to her and she enjoyed his presence and talking to him. She wished she had had a friend like him earlier in her life. "If you don't mind me asking, do you have any other family you'd wish me to inform? Preferably ones who will visit?"

She shook her head. "Not really, but thanks. My family is small, and we don't talk much." She sighed and looked around again. Ratchet noticed her eyes were locked on a butterfly as it floated past, flapping its wings gracefully. "I've lived with my boyfriend, well I guess you could say my _ex_ boyfriend, Tom, for about six years. We were going to get married."

"I'm sincerely sorry to hear this, Janice," His eyes softened again and he gave off that apologetic look.

She shrugged it off again. "Like I said, I was going to break up with him. He turned out to be an alcoholic and somewhat of a cheater." She sighed.

"I don't understand how there are those who think _cheating_ and getting extremely drunk are the only two things they can ever do with their lives," He said. Then he seemed to think. "I've never cheated, but I should probably say that I've had my fair share of drinks before.. I guess I'm somewhat of a hypocrite. Of course I'm not an alcoholic."

Janice chuckled and tried to picture him drunk. She didn't know him well enough, but she still couldn't picture it. He was somewhat too formal. "You seem like a good guy. It's a rare thing to see."

He smiled at that. "I just know how to live my life properly, I suppose."

"That's a good thing." She began to scratch at her neck. "Can I take this thing off? It's starting to bug me."

"Do you have any pain in your neck?" He asked. He didn't seem too sure it was a good idea just yet, but he would do it anyway if she really insisted.

She shook her head slightly. "No. It's mostly my back, but even that's starting to feel better."

He nodded with a sigh. "Alright then." Taking his hands, he placed them on the neck collar and gently took it off. He chuckled when she immediately started to scratch at it. He smiled faintly. "You're very.. how can I say this.. fidgety."

She laughed. "I can never sit still." Then she groaned and looked at her legs. "Which sucks because I'm probably gonna be in here for a while."

He chuckled, but then stopped slowly. He knew she may never see the chance to walk again, but only time would tell. He cleared his throat. "Well, for the mean time, I'll take care of you. Do you have anywhere to go?"

She nodded. "My house. It wasn't his, so, I can stay there."

"You will live alone then?" He asked, not liking the idea of her having to fend for herself in a wheelchair.

She shrugged. "Yea. I have to. I have nobody else who'll help me."

He began to think. He wanted to help her in some way, but he wasn't just going to ask if he could live with her. That would be beyond strange, especially since he was still considered a stranger to her. "Like to travel?" He asked instead.

This caught her slightly off guard. "Um, well I've never been out of the US, but I've always wanted to get out from time to time."

He nodded in approval.

"In a couple of days, I'm taking vacation time to head out to Qatar in the Middle East," He said, but then stopped himself. "Well, it's not really a vacation. It's more like I have to give a check-up to the soldiers at the SOCCENT Armed Forces base there."

She laughed. "Oh, I forgot you mentioned you worked with the military people." Then she paused. "Who'll take care of me?"

He smirked at her question. "Wanna travel?"

Her eyes widened slightly. She had always thought the Middle East wasn't much but a war zone. She thought it was beautiful up there, but the thought of all the weapons she'd be surrounded by made her nervous. "But- is it _safe_?"

He seemed slightly surprised. "Of course. It's heavily guarded and well armed. There's not a fly that can come in and out undetected." He grinned.

She smiled and looked away. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind going. It'll be nice to get out of this country for a little," She looked over at him. "How long will we stay?"

He shrugged. "A few weeks. I normally stay for a few months, but figured you wouldn't want to stay too long." He paused. "Unless you'd like to? Up to you."

She didn't even think about it. "I'd _love_ to go. Do I get to meet all of your buddies?" She winked.

"I'll introduce you to _everybody_." She nodded in what was clear excitement. Ratchet smiled and watched her. Her hair blew gently in the small breeze and she smiled as she looked up at the sky. "Do you like the sky?"

She nodded. "I love the sky." She sighed, never taking her eyes off the clouds. "I love the night sky more, though. I like to look at the stars and the moon. Sometimes I wish I could've been an astronaut and go there." She stopped and looked around at the trees. "Do you think there's another planet with life?"

This made him chuckle. "I do, but you can never be too sure. It's quite a large Universe. It'd be a shame if it were gone to waste."

She nodded. "I know what you mean." She laughed. "I thought it would be interesting to meet another alien species, ya know? Just talk about life on each other's planet. Talk about the life style. Get new knowledge. All that cool stuff." She sighed. "I'm not going to be that fortunate, though."

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Maybe you will one day." He decided to ask some questions just out of his curiosity. "What would you do if you met an alien species, and they were huge? I'm talking at least twenty feet tall."

She laughed and looked at him with a weird look. "What are you talking about? What kind of question is that?" He shrugged and so did she. "I guess I wouldn't be afraid. As long as they proved themselves harmless."

"Do you think it's easier said than done?" He asked, again, out of curiosity.

Her smile was crooked when she looked at him. "Um, I've never met an alien species, so I'm gonna say.. I trust what I think I'd do. So, therefore, I wouldn't be scared."

He nodded. "I see. Well, then I guess you're worthy to meet an alien species one day."

She raised an eyebrow and squinted an eye. "Oh yea? We'll see one day, if that ever happens."

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><p><strong>Well, first chapter! It's pretty long. xD Actually, I already have the next two written, and they're both pretty long too. :D<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Woah! I was not expecting such awesome feedback this soon! You guys are awesome, and to thank you, I've decided to update early. :)**

**How did everybody like the new TF3 movie? I already saw it 3 times, and I'm going again Saturday! Plus I'll have to see it again with my sister. :3**

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><p>Those few days came and went quickly for both of them. Ratchet had already packed everything he'd need in his ambulance. They were going to be transported to Qatar by a military cargo plane, also known as a C-17. When Janice first saw it, she was wide-eyed. Her first thought was why on Earth were they taking this instead of a regular airplane used to transport people on vacation or businesses?<p>

"I need to take my alt-I mean my ambulance there as well. It's a big base and if anybody were to need emergency help, I'd have to be there in seconds." He explained to her as he rolled her wheelchair into the cargo hold.

When he got her in the spot he wanted, he locked her wheels and stood next to her. His ambulance rested inches from them. Janice noticed it was a nice looking Hummer. It was the first time she saw a search and rescue Hummer.

"Oh, I see. Well, it makes sense," She said. "Are they going to wonder why I'm there?"

He shook his head. "No. I'll inform them of your company and your reasons. They may be soldiers, but they're very kind-hearted."

Janice couldn't help it. She loved the way he spoke. His voice was always so smooth and he always had the right thing to say. She thought she was weird for thinking that, but she knew it was true. He could've just handed her to another doctor there, but instead he decided to show her around new places and continue to help her despite all the work he'd probably be doing on the base.

"Thanks Ratchet," She smiled. She always wondered what his first name was, but she never asked. She'd never heard anybody by the first name Ratchet before, so she assumed it was his last.

He only smiled and nodded.

Despite the fact that she couldn't feel much pain anymore after a couple of weeks, she still couldn't move her legs. The feeling in them was gone, too. She wondered how she'd ever live normally again.

"We're about to take off," He said.

"Shouldn't you sit down?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. She knew if the plane this big took off, he'd likely fall.

He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. I have an excellent balance."

She nodded. "Oh, okay."

As she felt the engine of the plane turn on and come to life, she braced herself for the bumpy ride. Surprisingly, it was somewhat smooth and she felt the plane lift itself into the air. He informed her it would be at least a sixteen hour plane flight.

Janice sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back. She loved long trips, but being stuck in a wheelchair wasn't helping at all. She opened her eyes to glance at Ratchet. He was just standing there, totally unfazed by the slight shake of the plane every once in a while. How could he stand so tall?

She was erupted from her thoughts as he finally walked away and towards his ambulance. Opening the driver side door, he climbed in, sat on the edge of the seat and began to pick up something from the center console.

Janice smiled when she saw the paperwork now in his hands. He could never take a break is what she learned during her stay at the hospital. Often when they'd have conversations, his nose would be buried in paperwork as they talked.

She shook her head. "Is that your plan for the rest of the trip?"

Surprised, he looked at her. After contemplating what she said, he grinned. "You already know me too well." Suddenly there was a big thump and the plane began to tremble. "Slaggit!" He yelled as he dropped the papers and they slipped off his leg and onto the floor. "Fragging, glitching papers," Janice made to unlock her wheels, but he stopped her. "Don't worry about it, Janice. I got it." He said as he climbed down from the Hummer.

She giggled, and stayed put. "What did you say when you dropped them? It sounded strange."

He shook his head. "Just some random things that come out of my mouth when I'm angry."

Deciding not to press on about the topic, she changed it. "Tell me about some of the soldiers there."

He looked at her puzzled, but when he saw her smile, he gave in. "Well, a lot of them have nicknames, so bear with me. Let's see," He sighed, picking up the papers finally. "There's Captain Will Lennox. He's generally a nice man unless you get on his bad side. Technical Sergeant Robert Epps is his best friend." He scratched at his head. "We have the weapon's specialist, Ironhide, who is a good friend of mine as well, though he tends to grind my gears from time to time. Myself, Skids, Mudflap, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jolt, Bumblebee, Jetfire, Wheelie, Chromia, Elita-1, Arcee.." He stopped. "Too many to name right now from memory, but there may be more. Ah, I forgot the most important one. My boss, Optimus."

Janice whistled. "And those are like code names? I mean, except for Will and Robert." When Ratchet nodded, she let loose a sigh. "Jeez. I guess I have a big greeting to make when I get there."

He chuckled. "Indeed you do."

* * *

><p>Those dreadful, tiring hours finally flew by and Janice was woken up by the tremble of the plane as it tilted its nose slightly downward to make the landing. There wasn't really a window to look out of, which was disappointing to her, but she was relieved to know they were landing.<p>

Ratchet, who was sitting in the driver side of the ambulance, climbed down. "Well, it's about time," He huffed as he got behind her wheelchair and unlocked the wheels as the plane came to a stop.

The door was lowered down, and they were both greeted by bright sunlight. Standing at the exit, were two men. One had tanned skin and the other had ebony skin. Both fairly attractive men.

"Ah, Will, Rob." Ratchet greeted them both with a nod, and Janice finally knew who they were. Ratchet pointed a hand down to Janice as they got closer. "This is Janice Gearing. She's a patient of mine from the United States."

"Nice to meet you," One of the two men said, holding out his hand. "I'm Captain Will Lennox." He smiled kindly down at her. "But just call me Will. Lennox works, too." He chuckled.

She nodded and produced a smile of her own. "Nice to meet you, too." She turned her head towards the other man, who was now walking her way. "You must be Rob. Nice to meet you, also."

He grinned, flashing white teeth. "My pleasure, miss. Welcome to the Qatar SOCCENT base."

She was already beginning to like it here. What Ratchet said was true. They were all kind hearted. As Ratchet began wheeling her out of the plane, she was met with blinding light and sudden heat. "It's hot here," She laughed. Ratchet placed something on her lap.

"You can take my sunglasses. I got them from the ambulance," He said as he parked her wheelchair off to the side. She put them on. Turning to Lennox, he said," Can you please wheel her to the hangar?"

Will shook his head with a laugh. "Sure thing, Ratch'." Unlocking her wheels, Will wheeled her off in the distance.

Rob stayed behind, though, smirking at Ratchet. "You didn't tell her?" He asked.

Ratchet shot him a look, clearly annoyed. "Of course I didn't tell her. She's a human. And a young one at that. Her mind wouldn't be able to process what she'd be seeing and she's already under enough stress from her accident a couple weeks ago." He turned around and began walking towards his vehicle. "If I find out anybody even _hinted_ to her of our existence this soon, I'll break mechs and humans before I treat them."

Rob shook his head with another laugh. "You're too much, Ratch'. Welcome back to base." Spinning on his heel, he walked the other way, leaving Ratchet to pull his ambulance out of the plane.

* * *

><p>"So, do I get to meet anybody?" Janice asked Will as he wheeled her into a large hangar. Making sure there was nothing suspicious around, he continued pushing her inside.<p>

Will looked down at her as he walked around her. "Like who? Did Ratchet tell you about anybody?"

"Well, he told me about some of the soldiers named Ironhide, Skids, Mudflap-"

"Wait, so you know about them?" Will asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Ratchet told you all about them?"

She nodded, "Well, yea, he did. I was actually kinda anxious to meet them." She scratched her head. "Is something wrong?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts. "No, not at all. I just figured you'd be scared. You know, you're just a civilian."

She laughed. "Scared? Why would I be scared, they're just normal-"

"I mean," Will interrupted, never giving her a chance to finish the sentence that might have helped him understand better. "Well, never mind, why don't I just show you?" He walked behind her and continued wheeling her further inside. As they got deeper in the hangar, there was an _extremely_ large door. It must've led to another room. "So he told you about Optimus, too?"

She nodded. "Briefly." She paused. "Am I meeting him?"

Will shrugged. "Sure, I'll show you him, as long as you aren't going to cower like a dog." He laughed.

She shook her head. "No way, I'm prepared." He must've been strict or something, she thought.

He chuckled. "Okay, just right through this door."

As she was being wheeled to the door, he stopped her in front of it, and went in front of her to push a button. Almost automatically, the door began to open slowly. "That's a really big door."

Will grinned. "Well, as you already know, they're really big aliens."

Janice looked confused, but didn't say anything. Aliens? What was he talking about? Ratchet never mentioned anything about _aliens_. Just before she was about to open her mouth and say something, the door stopped abruptly, and her jaw dropped. Sitting in front of a _colossal _desk, was one hell of a large _robotic thing_ that she couldn't identify.

Whatever it was seemed to be pretty nose-deep into paperwork.. or what looked like a computerized, giant notebook. Janice stared blankly at the red and blue massive robot, trying to figure out if she was dreaming, or just hallucinating. Finally, looking up, bright blue optics met Janice's, and it turned its head to the side. "Um, hello Will." Then it looked at Janice, almost giving off what looked like a puzzled expression. "Who is this?"

The first thing that ran through Janice's mind was her conversation with Ratchet, and how she'd told him that if she ever did meet an alien species, she wouldn't be scared. Unfortunately, she just discovered that was a lie. Backing up her wheelchair frantically, she went to turn around, but Will stopped her. "Woah! What's wrong?"

"Ohhh, _shit_," Will turned to the voice of Epps, who had just walked in the hangar. "Ratchet's gon' _kill_ you!" He was trying not to laugh as he covered his mouth, and placed his arm under his elbow.

"I thought she _knew!_" Will growled back. "He must be stupid if he thinks he can bring a human here without seeing _them_!" He face palmed himself. Then he looked down at Janice, who still looked slightly panicked. "I'm so sorry, Janice. I didn't know you didn't know about them. If I would've known, I-"

"It's okay," Janice surprisingly breathed out. "It was rude of me to get scared like that. I mean.. he won't.. he won't hurt me, right?"

Will shook his head. "No, he won't. He's nice, but Ratchet's the one I'm worried about now-"

"You're damn right," There was a loud growl and everybody turned to the noise. Optimus, as confused as ever, was still sitting behind his desk, looking dumfounded. An ambulance was making its way through the hangar, but Janice saw nobody driving it. She was confused immediately. It was definitely his voice. "I told you there'd be hell to pay. I'll kill you all seven ways from Sunday!"

Suddenly his door opened and he stepped out, but she could've sworn he wasn't in there before. "Ratch', I didn't know.. she knew all their names." It was Will who spoke.

"I told her they were code names you delinquent glitch!" Ratchet yelled, clearly infuriated. So this is how he's like on the base, Janice thought. He shook his head, still on a rampage. "By the AllSpark! has it been _that_ long since I gave you all brain scans?"

Epps leaned down towards Janice, who was watching Ratchet, amazed as he continued to rant and swear. "We're lucky he doesn't have wrenches on him." She couldn't help but laugh, despite being face to face with alien creatures.

Ratchet suddenly stopped and looked down at Janice. In the most polite, calm voice he could produce, he asked. "Are you alright?"

Will's jaw dropped. That was the first time he'd ever seen somebody have the power to stop Ratchet mid-rant and be polite. Janice nodded. "Well, I mean. I'm okay physically, but right now my heart's beating a thousand a minute. Why didn't you just tell me you guys were aliens?"

"Woah, I'm no alien," Epps butted in. "Neither is Will. We're actual human soldiers. Ratchet and the others with the goofy names are the, what we call, Autobots."

Ratchet gave a dirty look to Rob. "_Because_, I didn't want your body into more stress." He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "But, now it seems it already _is._" He glared at Will, but then looked back at Janice.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I just needed a couple seconds for my brain to understand that I was in reality, not fantasy." She chuckled. "I told you I wouldn't be scared." Then she gave it a second thought. "Okay, scared at _first_."

"Ratchet, if I may excuse myself into the conversation?" Optimus piped up, standing from his desk and stepping forward, out of his office and into the main hangar where everybody else stood. "I do believe I should have at least been informed of her presence."

"It was an emergency," Ratchet sighed. "She's my recent patient and was involved in a very serious car accident. I didn't trust anybody else at the hospital to take care of her, so I brought her here." He paused. "Willingly."

Optimus nodded, completely seeming to understand. Regardless, he still said, "But, for future issues, let me know beforehand,"

Ratchet seemed agitated but nodded anyway, "Yes, Optimus, I will." He wasn't making eye contact with Optimus for whatever reason that was unknown to Janice. Finally, Ratchet focused his attention back on his patient. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Janice nodded, "Yes, I'm fine, I promise." She smiled.

He nodded and took in a deep breath. "Good. The last thing I need is to give you a heart attack."

Janice laughed. Little did he know, she nearly had a heart attack, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She wheeled herself closer to him a little. "It's really no biggie now. As long as they're all nice."

"Well," Will began, but stopped short when he saw the glare and shake of the head Ratchet was giving him. "Alright, well you tell her then! Christ.." He growled before stalking off.

Ratchet placed a finger on his temple. Then, looking back down at her, he began to speak. "We're known as the Autobots. You understand that much, correct?" She nodded, so he went on. "Unfortunately, there are our enemies, the Decepticons. Megatron, the leader, and his ridiculously obnoxious partner, Starscream, run them and we've been in an on-going war for thousands of years. Luckily, the war has calmed down, but I'm afraid to say we don't know when the next attack could be. That's why I have to come down here at least a couple times a year to give check-ups to the soldiers. They need to be in the top of the line condition."

Janice swallowed hard. They didn't know when the next attack could be? She looked worried and felt it too, but she suddenly calmed down. Ratchet told her that the base was well armed. "Well, thanks for telling me. I mean, as long as you're going to protect me-"

Ratchet suddenly snapped his fingers and looked over towards Optimus. "That reminds me, Optimus. I have a request."

Optimus waited for Ratchet to continue, but when there was no more coming from the medic, he shrugged. "Well, go on." Janice eyed Ratchet curiously.

Ratchet was trying to hold back a grin as he spoke seriously. "With your permission, and of course Janice's as well, I'd like to request a guardianship with her."

Janice was a bit shocked. She didn't know what he meant. "A guardianship?"

Ratchet turned his attention to her. "Yes. A lot of the Autobots are guardians of the soldiers on base and other humans. For example, Ironhide is the family guardian of Will and Bumblebee is the guardian of Sam and his mate Mikaela. I'll introduce you to them later."

Janice nodded, understanding. Optimus cycled his vents in a mechanical sigh. "I have no issue with it. If Janice accepts, you may have permission."

Janice frowned for a split second, and Ratchet looked disappointed when he saw it. Suddenly, her face brightened in a grin as she thought about it. She'd have an alien guardian. "Sounds good to me."

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><p><strong>I'm sorry Will Lennox, but you, my friend, are an idiot. ;) Hope it was alright. xD<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews! Here's another early update for you. :)**

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><p>"Ugh! Sides, give it back!" Days had gone by, and Ratchet had introduced Janice to everybody on the base, or just about everyone. There were far too many, but he got as much in as possible. Sideswipe, was already picking on her, dangling her hat that she had brought with her just above her head. The two had gotten to be decent friends since two days prior. Janice folded her arms, still sitting in her wheelchair. "Not funny, loser!"<p>

Sideswipe only laughed. Then he placed it back on her head, and she fixed it to the position she was comfortable with. "I'm just messing with you, Jan'."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yea, yea. Just don't let Ratch' catch you. He'll have a fit."

Sideswipe waved. "That may be so, but he knows yelling at me or 'punishing' me, doesn't work. And it never will." He grinned with folded arms, looking proud of himself. "Nobody can get me to do what they want."

Ironhide walked by, but managed to shove Sideswipe to the side. "Out of my way," He said, then mumbled "fragger," under his breath.

Janice giggled. She always thought Ironhide and his ways of dealing with things were hilarious. She loved to watch him pick on either set of twins, as mean as that sounded, but she never had the opportunity to meet him personally.

"Except him. He scares the living pit outta me," Sideswipe shuddered. "But I still prank him every once an' a while with Skids or Mudflap."

Janice shook her head. "You're going to get in big trouble one day."

He shrugged. "I'm always in big trouble, even when I'm _not_ doing something." He suddenly smirked at her. "So, Ratchet's got his optic on you?"

Janice raised an eyebrow at him. "Beg pardon?"

Sideswipe smirked. "You know what I said. First he asks to be your guardian and now he's suddenly extremely over-protective?"

"He's being a good friend?" Janice shrugged. "I don't see how it's a big deal. Unless you wanna explain further?"

"Look," Sideswipe said, sitting next to her on the ground. "When a male Cybertronian finds a femme he wants, he'll go for her like _that_." He snapped his fingers.

Janice looked somewhat disturbed. "I doubt that's what's going on."

Sideswipe shrugged. "Doubt what you want. Remember though, I'm a male Cybertronian and you're the femme. You may be a different species, but we can tell who's attractive and who isn't. I could go after you if I wanted to, but I'm not gonna interfere with Ratchet." He grinned.

Janice, feeling red in the face, brushed her fingers through her hair. "Well, thank you for telling me, but no thank you. I'm fine being single and even if I wasn't, I'll be just as fine dating my own kind." She chuckled just thinking about it.

"Ratchet's gonna be _one_ disappointed mech," Sideswipe said.

Janice laughed. "Oh, shut it."

Standing up, Sideswipe shrugged. "Just consider it. He's always miserable. It'd be nice to get him somebody who'll change.. well," He stopped, thinking about it. "Let's just say it'll be nice to see somebody with him." With that said, he walked away, leaving Janice to think about his words.

Janice sighed and looked around the base. Her eyes caught sight of Ratchet, in his mighty bipedal mode. He was following Will and a couple others, discussing something. She was too far away to hear. She watched as he moved his hands in different motions as he talked, emphasizing each and every word. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she could hear the sound of his voice.

Before she could stop herself, she noticed that Ironhide, who she had also met, was watching her watch the medic. She looked at Ironhide as he smirked, shaking his head at her. She flushed and looked away, down at the ground. So does everybody think the same as Sideswipe around here, she asked herself.

"How are you today?" She gasped at the booming voice. Looking up, she saw it was Ratchet. "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Just a bit out of it. It's really hot out here, too." She smiled.

He pointed behind him. "There's air conditioning in the Autobot hangar if you'd like to go in there?"

"I thought all the hangars were air conditioned?" She asked.

"They are," He told her. "But I figured you'd want some company. Most of the other hangars are either empty or occupied by busy soldiers."

She shrugged and then leaned back, a smug grin on her face. "I might as well stay here. You know, get tan. I could use one."

He chuckled. "As you wish." Then he sat down on the ground next to her, and sighed. "It's such a.. how can I say this? Boring day for me."

"Why's that?" She looked over at him.

He shrugged. "I do the same thing all the time when I'm down here. I have most of the soldiers done with their check-ups. Right now I'm just finishing some long-lost paperwork. Well," He smiled at her. "Trying to. I figured I'd come and chat with you. I don't want you to think I neglected you coming here."

She waved it off. "It's alright. As long as I'm not alone." Janice suddenly looked at him as she remembered what Sideswipe told her. "I have a question."

"I have an answer," He smiled.

"Is it possible for your kind to have feelings for humans?" She asked.

He nodded but then paused. "What kind of _feelings_?"

"Like," She sighed, trying to think of the right word. "Love feelings and not love like family love. I mean love as in.. relationships."

"Relationships?" Ratchet scratched his head. "Well, I wouldn't see why not, but it is frowned upon."

She looked shocked. "Why is it frowned upon?"

"Our species is supposed to be a secret to your kind. The government does not like us being here to begin with, well in my opinion, so I guess getting in a relationship with a human would only fuel the fire." He ended with a sigh.

She shook her head with furrowed eyebrows. "That's absolutely stupid."

He shrugged. "It is what it is. I don't have a human femme I'm interested in, so therefore it doesn't matter to me what the rule is."

Janice almost looked disappointed, but then she caught herself. Wait, disappointed? She shook it off. "I see. I was just curious."

He smiled. "Curiosity is nothing to be ashamed of. Ask anything you want."

"Actually," Janice swallowed hard. "I was asking because Sideswipe might have mentioned something to me."

Ratchet looked puzzled. "Mentioned something to you?" Then his eyes hardened in a glare as his scans picked up her emotional feelings and how jumpy they had become. "If that glitch said something to make you feel uncomfortable, I'll-"

"No, no!" Janice quickly said with a laugh. "He didn't say anything.. bad. He just said that.. well.. it was mostly directed towards you."

"Me?" Ratchet asked curiously.

She nodded. "Yea, he said something about.. well, let's just say he thinks you have some sort of feelings for me. Like the ones we were just talking about."

Ratchet looked astonished. At first he didn't say anything, and Janice wasn't sure if it was because he _had_ nothing to say. Without a word, he transformed into his alternate mode and activated his holoform. "Typical for Sideswipe to say. Why did he say this? Did he tell you?"

"Um, he didn't really say much except that you were so over protective of me," She said, trying to remember his exact words.

Ratchet folded his arms. Despite the fact that he was probably close to 40, 34 at the earliest, she could still see the slight muscle in his arms. "I'm definitely launching my heaviest wrenches at his aft next time I see him."

Janice's small smile formed across her lips as she looked down at her legs. "Don't hurt him," She said as she finally looked back up at him. "He's stupid at spark. He'll never change. But I did have a small request."

Ratchet nodded. "What is it?"

She smiled. "Is it possible to.. help me try to stand? I wanna see if I can do it."

He looked disappointed. "Janice, I don't think that's a good idea. You can't even move them." He sighed. "I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

Janice looked hurt. "But.."

"The answer is no," Ratchet told her sternly, raising his voice, but there was something in it that Janice didn't like. He was too over-protective. "Look," He sighed. "I have some paperwork to get back to. We'll discuss it later." When he saw that she wasn't making eye contact with him, he placed a hand on his forehead. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Janice looked up at him, but only to watch him walk the other way. Squinting her eyes in a glare, Janice wheeled herself the opposite direction, towards the Autobot hangar.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Janice!" Janice turned her head in the direction of the voice and smiled. It was Jolt. Although she hadn't talked to him much, he was still nice to her.<p>

"Hello, Jolt. How are you today?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I'm alright. Do you mind me asking what Ratchet got all upset about out there?"

Janice frowned. She wasn't really up for talking about it, but she'd be nice to Jolt. "I asked him if he could help me try to walk," She said. "He didn't like the idea."

"Well he didn't have to raise his voice at you," Jolt said.

"You heard him?"

He nodded. "My audio processors are extremely sensitive, and in case you didn't notice, Ratch' has a big mouth," He chuckled and Janice laughed. "But hey," Jolt began. "I'll help you walk if you want?"

Janice's eyes brightened. She did like the sound of that, but when her thoughts drifted back to Ratchet, she knew she couldn't. It'd only make him more upset with her. "I don't know. I'd just make him worry."

Jolt waved it off. "Nah, I can help you do it out of the base a bit. It'd be interesting. Besides, I never really got the chance to interact with a human around here before. I'd be honored if you'd let me."

Janice sighed and wondered. What would Ratchet think if he found out? What would he say? As much as she didn't want to disappoint him, she knew all she ever wanted was the chance to walk again.

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll let you help."

She'd never seen anybody grin as wide as him. "Great!" He transformed into his alternate mode and opened up the driver side. "Your first challenge is to get in."

She shook her head with a laugh and looked around to make sure Ratchet wasn't around. When the coast was clear, she locked her wheels, and then used her arms to lift herself out of the wheelchair as much as possible. Sliding down so her foot touched the ground, she tried to apply weight, but it was too awkward not able to feel anything, and she ended up sliding down. "Crap," She breathed, her rear now covered with sand and debris. She began to laugh.

"Are you okay?" Jolt asked. "Come on, you can do it. Crawl if you have to. The first step is trying."

She nodded. "Okay, Jolt." Using all her upper body strength, she positioned herself in a crawling position and began to crawl. Even though she was crawling, it was still a hassle moving around, especially when she still needed her legs to move. As she crawled, she realized that she could move her hip joints, but not her knees.

Finally, she reached Jolt and climbed her way inside the Chevy Volt. Finally sitting in the seat, he closed the door. "Good job, Janice." He began to drive out of the hangar.

Janice's heart beat faster as she traveled out of the base with Jolt. She hadn't really gotten to know him too well, so he was somewhat still of a stranger to her. She was thankful he was taking his time to help her.

Then she thought of Ratchet and how mad he would be if he knew about this. A part of her wanted to ask him to turn around, but another part of her wanted to do this.

Before she could open her mouth, Jolt stopped. "Okay, we're clear from the base. Would you like to begin?"

She smiled and nodded. "Sure, let's do it."

"Just hold on and don't move," He said and before Janice could wonder what he was talking about, he began to transform with her still inside him. There was no time for her to freak out, so by the time he was finished, she was already in the palm of his hand. "Good, good. So, how would you like to do this?"

She shrugged. "No idea. How would you do it?"

"Well," He began, setting her on the ground in a sitting position. "I'd probably hold you by your arms and lift you up so your feet are still on the ground."

She smiled, "Okay, let's try it." As he gently took her by her arms again between massive fingers, she found herself being lifted just enough so her feet stayed on the ground, even though she couldn't feel it. "Okay, so I know I can move my hip joints an' all, but I dunno how this is gonna work."

"Just pretend to walk and I'll follow your lead," He said.

She nodded in agreement and did what he said. At first it was awkward and her ankles kept moving sideways and she felt like she was about to fall, but eventually she got the feeling of it. "I think I'm doing it, but I'm not sure." She laughed.

He chuckled. "You're doing great. Just focus on your hip joints, not your knees. We'll work on that later." He waited a couple of seconds then said, "We should have Ratchet get you some forearm crutches. They'll be able to help you like I am."

She nodded. "I'll have to ask him. Later though. He's been stressed lately."

He chuckled. "Typical for him. He always puts more food on his plate than he can eat."

"He's a medical officer and even I can tell that's not healthy," Janice said, a frown on her face. "Maybe I'll try to get him out and do something."

He laughed. "You can try, but I doubt that'll work. He's very content on where he's at." She sighed, but said no more. "There you go," Jolt continued. "You're getting the hang of it. Even though you can't walk now, this is useful on getting you used to being on your feet again."

She nodded. "Thank you, again, Jolt."

"It's nothin', really. Thanks for letting me help," He said.

"Janice!"

"Oh, no," Janice said, hearing the familiar voice call her name. "Quickly, put me down."

Jolt set her down gently and then he sat next to her as well. Just in time before Ratchet came speeding towards them. He transformed and blue optics glared at the two figures. "I've been looking all over for you. Jolt, why is she here?"

Jolt knew he didn't sound pleased at all. It was probably best to tell him the truth. "I was helping her walk."

Janice looked away from both of them, expecting Ratchet to yell and growl endlessly. Instead, there was shocked silence. Ratchet's optics softened and he looked down at Janice, who still refused to make eye contact. "I just wanted out of that God forsaken wheelchair."

Ratchet cycled his vents, almost knowing where this was going to go. "Janice, you aren't well enough yet to be out of your wheelchair."

"Then I guess I never will be," She snapped, turning her head to look at him. "I'm no longer in pain, most of my bruises and cuts have gone away and I feel normal. All I wanna do is walk." At first she felt guilty for snapping at him, but when she looked at him, she noticed he had a look on his face as if he already expected this kind of behavior from her. She looked away, ashamed.

"Jolt," Ratchet sighed again. "Please leave us." Jolt nodded and obeyed. Transforming into his Chevy Volt alternate mode, he drove away towards base. When he was out of sight, Ratchet sat down next to Janice. "Look, I care about you." This made Janice make eye contact. "A lot. If something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself. My job is to help you and if you go off and disobey me, then that tells me you don't appreciate my help at all."

She looked down. "But I do appreciate it. I'm just impatient."

He laughed. "Impatience is normal." Then he frowned. "But still, please don't do it again. At least ask me first. You'd be surprised to know that my answer may not always be no."

This made her chuckle. "I will from now on. I apologize."

He only chuckled softly to himself. Both were silent for a minute or so. Janice's thoughts raced back and forth Finally, Ratchet spoke. "How'd it go?"

Janice was slightly surprised when she looked up at him. She nodded and smiled. "It went well." He only nodded, showing no emotion on his face plates. "He said you should get me some forearm crutches."

Ratchet looked amused. "Did he now? What else did Dr. Jolt say?"

"Oh, stop it. He was just trying to help."

He grunted. "Maybe he should be the new CMO-"

"Ratchet!" Janice yelled, laughing, trying to grab his attention.

He looked startled. "Sorry." There was silence, then," Although, forearm crutches aren't such a bad idea. Perhaps I'll order them for you."

She smiled, "I'd certainly appreciate it."

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><p><strong>Hope it was alright. ^.^ I have chapter 4 written, but I wanna wait a while to make sure everybody's all caught up and just in case any new readers come by. :) Thanks for all your reviews again! Means a lot!<strong>

_If you'd like to give me some ideas for future chapters, tell me and I'll work something out!_


	4. Chapter 4

Weeks had gone by and Ratchet was working with Janice to help her walk again. At first it all seemed hopeless. He felt that it was going to go nowhere and she was likely permanently damaged, but as the days went by, he could literally feel her getting stronger. Her desire to walk again was so high, she would sweat from the work and never give up.

There were times he'd feel bad because she would occasionally stop to cry, or keep going and tear up. Either way, it was spark-crushing.

He started off by having her do the same routine she had done with Jolt, but when that seemed to work very little, the forearm crutches had finally made their appearance and she slipped them on.

Immediately, she found it easier and had begun her 'rehab'.

"Woah, easy there," Ratchet said, catching her in time before she fell. "No need to go so fast. Take it slow, Janice."

Janice huffed out an agitated groan before continuing. Moving one arm crutch after the other was extremely difficult and Ratchet had his hands on both of her sides, guiding her along. "This.. is.. _pointless_."

Ratchet glared. "You wanted to do it."

"Yeah," She gasped for air again. "Because I thought it was going to be easy. That, and I'm a female human. I'm supposed to be gullible."

"How gullible?" He asked, slightly confused.

She shrugged. "I was tricked into believing it would be easily done."

He laughed, to her surprise. "Janice, you're not gullible. You're just impatient."

She couldn't help but laugh along with him. "Alright, very funny. Just don't let go of me."

"I would never let go of you," He said, and he sounded so strange. She was too busy thinking about it to realize her knee had come out from under her and she lost her balance. Ratchet wasn't expecting her to fall in that direction, and his grip wasn't tight enough. She fell. "Janice!" He yelled from surprise, quickly getting down to help her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I promise," She laughed, to Ratchet's surprise. "I was just thinking about something and I wasn't paying attention."

"What the slag were you thinking about?" He asked as she was finally on her feet again.

"Nothing," She shook it off. Then she smiled. "Ready to go?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but focus this time, huh? You're killing me here." He sighed as he re-positioned himself, making sure he had a firmer hold of her hips.

Janice had to admit, it felt awkward the way he was holding her, but if it was what needed to be done in order for her to have a chance of walking again, then so be it. "Alright, alright." She sighed. One step after another, and finally, she was too tired to continue.

"I think we should call it quits for today," Ratchet sighed, taking his hands off of her.

She nodded in agreement. "Fine by me." She sighed as he brought the wheelchair up to her. She sat down, feeling relief. "Oh wait," She suddenly said, gripping the arms of the chair. Thankfully the wheels were locked, otherwise it would've slid backwards. Ratchet quickly went in front of her, helping her up.

"What?" He asked, grabbing her arms to help her up. She was practically leaning on him. He was shocked when her arms wrapped around his neck in an embrace.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me." She said, pulling away with a smile.

His shocked expression quickly changed into a smile as he helped her back down. "You're quite welcome, Janice." He began wheeling her back to the inner area of the base. "I forgot to tell you the police contacted me yesterday."

Janice froze. "What did they say?"

"Well, they didn't like how quickly you took off out of the country..," He began, and when he saw her horrified look, he smiled. "You're safe, don't worry. There isn't even a fine. They understood what had happened. I think that's the last I'll talk to them, though. Unless Tom's family decides otherwise."

"I figured I'd have to go to court or something." She looked relieved. "We'll see what happens I guess."

Ratchet shrugged. "They mentioned nothing of it." As they made it to the center of the base, Ratchet released the wheelchair handles. "Feel free to go where you want. I have business to get to and I doubt you'd wanna stick around with me. It gets un-entertaining."

She frowned. "I like being with you." She didn't mean to blurt it, but she knew it was too late now.

Ratchet's head jerked back slightly, a look of surprise all over his face. "Well," He managed to say. "In that case, feel free to come along."

She grinned. "Alright. Wheel me there."

Ratchet groaned as he got behind the wheelchair again and began to push. "You're going to have to learn how to do this on your own," He muttered.

"Oh shush," She smirked.

* * *

><p>As soon as they got in the med bay, he wheeled her off to the side and walked away towards his desk. She saw his holoform disappear and then the ambulance, which was already inside, transform into his bipedal mode.<p>

She watched as he walked to his desk and sat behind it, pulling out a data pad. He began tapping his fingers on it. Janice smiled. He was always making himself more busy than he needed to be. When the med bay door suddenly opened, Janice's head snapped towards it.

"Ratchet, it's check-up time," She hadn't had the opportunity to meet this mech personally. Actually, from taking a look at him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She'd witnessed his cruel behavior to the twins before. He wasn't as tall as Optimus, but he sure as hell looked like he could take him on. His paint color was black and he had a nice pair of cannons sitting on his arms. "And don't take forever. I have to get back to target practice." He almost had a British accent. She knew him as Ironhide.

Ratchet groaned as he threw the data pad back on the desk and glared up at the other Autobot. "This can't wait?"

"No," Ironhide looked away, and when he did, his optics fell on Janice. She was expecting him to say hello, or something, but instead, he averted his attention back to Ratchet. "I have a date with the shooting range."

"Well," Ratchet began with a sigh as he stood up. "I can already tell by looking at you, that you're suffering from Autobot down-syndrome," Despite the cruelty of the joke, Janice still found herself covering her mouth to prevent the laugh. It hardly worked.

Ironhide growled. "Takes one to know one, old mech."

Ratchet's eyes squinted. "You're older than me," Then he sighed again. "Alright, get your aft over here so I can run the scans." When Ironhide walked over to Ratchet, the medical officer pointed to a table. "Sit on that."

Ironhide obeyed, but his gaze turned towards Janice. "Got yourself an assistant?"

Janice looked taken aback for a second, but then she turned her attention to Ratchet. She wasn't sure why she was shy to talk around the other mech. Maybe it was because he was so intimidating.

Ratchet glanced at Janice. "No, a patient- would you sit still?" He shook his head with a loud puff of exhaling air. "Janice was in a bad car accident. I'm helping her."

"I'll help her," Ironhide joked, smirking at Janice, who couldn't help but smile just a little.

Ratchet shook his head. "Like pit you will. We already have one trigger happy mech on this base, the last thing I need is a trigger happy, crippled human femme." Of course the joke was cruel, but Janice smiled anyway, knowing he was only saying it to mess with Ironhide. Janice watched as Ratchet's hand transformed into some strange looking tool and a red laser shot out. The end of the laser hit Ironhide in his chest, or spark chamber. Ironhide jerked for a second, but then he calmed down.

Janice couldn't help but chuckle at Ratchet and how angry he got when talking to other mechs. She suddenly felt special, because he always talked to her in a civilized manner. She shook her head with a smile.

As the minutes passed by, Janice didn't expect how long the check-up actually was. And then as the hour passed, Ratchet finally stood straight. "Now that you've wasted an hour of my time," He paused. "Get out."

Ironhide smirked as he hopped off the table. "See you next time," He joked as he walked out of the med bay.

"Hopefully you won't," Ratchet mumbled to himself as he put away all the tools he had taken out. Janice noticed his small grin. She could tell that deep down, he really did enjoy his friend's company. He suddenly stopped and stared at her. "I might as well give you yours next."

Janice placed her hands on her wheels. "Want me to come over there?"

He shook his head and activated his holoform. Then he began walking to her. "No, no. I'll come over there." When he got up to her, she was expecting him to wheel her over to the table, but instead he placed a hand behind her back, and slipped the other under her knees, lifting her up in what's known as 'bridal' style.

She wasn't expecting it, and she had wrapped her arms around his neck, hoping she wasn't too heavy for him. He carried her as if she were a feather, and gently sat her on the table so her legs were dangling off. "So, what's the plan?"

He smiled, but didn't look at her right away. "Same thing as Ironhide. Scans. Human technology isn't as advanced as mine." His holoform disappeared and his bipedal mode stood tall and mighty once again.

Janice swallowed hard. "It looked like it hurt, though."

Ratchet looked surprised. "Hurt? Janice, I would never let anything hurt you. Why would I use something that would cause pain?" He smiled as he stepped closer to her, his hand transforming once again into the tool he needed. "You won't feel anything but slight warmth."

She nodded, trusting his words, but when the laser shot out, she tensed. It hit her in the chest, where her heart beat, and a cloak of warmth enveloped her body. It made her shiver when Ratchet was done, as the cold air touched her nerves once again.

"Well?" She asked when she looked at his emotionless face. "That was quick."

He transformed the tool back into his hand and grinned at her. "The check-up procedure is more complicated with Cybertronians than humans. I have to check wires, cables, processors, the such. You're 100% healthy, Janice." Then he activated his holoform. "Just as I suspected."

Walking over to her, he lifted her up as gently as possible, and carried her over to her wheelchair. Sitting her down in it once more, he went to stand up straight, but her arms, which were wrapped around his neck, stayed firm. He was about to ask what she was doing when he was cut short by the feel of something soft against his mouth.

At first he wasn't sure what to do, and his first instinct was to pull away. He didn't mean to do it with so much force, but when he saw her expression, he suddenly felt horrible. She covered her hand with her mouth. "I'm so sorry.. I.. I didn't mean-"

He cleared his throat before turning around. "Um," He began, trying to think of anything to say. "That's quite alright.. I just.. I need to get some work done." His holoform disappeared and his bipedal mode sat behind the desk, still not making eye contact.

"Ratchet, I-"

"I _really should_ get this work done," He interrupted a bit harsher than he intended. "I'm already far behind."

With almost tear-filled eyes, Janice turned the wheelchair around and left the med bay.

* * *

><p>"You did <em>what<em>?" Sideswipe's jaw dropped as he stared at Janice with eyes full of disbelief. He laughed and looked away. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when somebody had the _balls_ to do that."

"Sides," Janice groaned. "Stop, seriously. I'm not feeling good about the whole thing. Now he hates my guts."

Sideswipe busted out laughing. "Hate you?" He continued to laugh, and Janice found it slightly obnoxious. "Dude, Jan', he _loved it_. Are you kidding me? You think he hates you? Janice, he's had his optics on you since day _one_. Trust me." He nudged her arm in a playful manner. "'Member what I told you about the whole when a male Cybertronian finds the femme he wants, he'll go after her?" Janice nodded. "That's what I was talking about!"

Janice raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, except I went after him first.. so.. that's not what you were talking about."

"Okay, so he's too afraid to do it on his own, but," Sideswipe paused with a shrug. "That still doesn't mean he didn't enjoy it."

"He _kicked me out of the med bay!"_ She growled.

"Duh," Sideswipe said. "Because he wanted to have time alone to fantasize about it. Janice, you don't listen to me, do you? I'm a male Cybertronian for Primus's sake! I'm like a younger version of him. Actually," He seemed to contemplate that. "Don't tell him I said that part. Anyway, listen, he liked it. Trust me. Give it a day.. maybe a few hours. He'll come around. Listen to Dr. Sideswipe."

She shook her head, still in denial. "I'd rather doubt it." She sighed and looked towards the med bay. The door were still tightly shut. She could only imagine what he was thinking. He probably thought she was a fool. Just a naive, young, girl.

Sideswipe, who was in holoform mode, put his arm around her. He smirked. "There's always me," He almost said it in a sing-song voice, raising both eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

She laughed and wheeled away a couple inches. "No thanks, Sides. I mean, you're nice an' all-"

"Ouch," He slapped a hand to his chest, where his heart would've been if he was human. "I'll be sure to warn Ratchet you're a spark-breaker," He winked and she couldn't help but crack a smile. Standing up, he began to walk away. "Just listen to me for once, alright? It'll all work out. I gotta go piss of some mechs. I'll catch you later."

By the time he finished, he was too far away to reply to, and Janice huffed out an annoyed sigh before turning her head back to the med bay doors. When she did, her heart stopped. She saw Ratchet walking out and just when she thought he was off to find her, he caught Optimus walking by, and followed him. The two seemed deep in conversation and Ratchet was pointing to a data pad.

She shivered when Ratchet made eye contact with her, and her heart dropped when he turned his back and walked the other way. Trying not to get emotional again, she turned her wheelchair around and headed for the only comfortable place on base for her. The Autobot hangar.

As soon as she wheeled herself inside, she was greeted by a series of hello's from different mechs. She smiled kindly in return and continued to wheel herself until she was at a railing, which had been recently installed on the wall for her use. Her forearm crutches were leaning against the wall next to the railing, but she ignored their presence.

Getting closer to the railing, she locked her wheels and grabbed onto it with her hands. Pulling herself up, she had to use all her strength so she wouldn't fall back down.

"Need help?" She heard Jolt ask. Besides Ratchet, he had been one of her 'trainers' when it came to getting back on her feet.

She shook her head. "No thanks, Jolt. I'm good." When she got on her feet, she could feel the slight tingle in her right leg. "I have nerve," She merely whispered, eyes going wide.

"You sure do," Jolt said with a chuckle as he took a few steps closer just in case she were to fall. "Those railings aren't that sturdy. If Ratchet catches ya without any real support, he'll have a spark-attack."

"No," She shook her head. "I have nerve. In my leg.." Suddenly she felt very dizzy and light headed, and before she could prevent it, she had fallen to the floor and blacked out.

"Janice!" Jolt's optics widened as he dashed to her side. Turning his head far enough to get a look at the others, who were now alert, he yelled, "Get Ratchet immediately!"

* * *

><p>I know Jolt wasn't a main character throughout the films, but I figured I should make him a 'kinda' main character in my story. I'm not sure what his personality is like, but I'm just making one up. xD<p>

Thanks for the reviews people! I'm gonna try and start chapter 5 up tonight, but I got major sun burn on my arms from the Pittsburgh Pirate baseball game today and it burns like the fragging pit.. -_- so, we'll see how that goes!


	5. Chapter 5

**I hate sunburn... :/**

**Ouchhhh. My arms hurt. xD But you know WHAT? I'm a good author, and I'm gonna start writing this chapter ANYWAY! ;)**

**Also, I bought the new Soundtrack of Transformers 3 by Steve Jablonsky.. and it's so AWESOME. I can't even decide which is my favorite.. I do like the track 'Sentinel Prime' even though he's an afthole, his track in the album is freaking calm, peaceful and epic at the same time. (Once again, even though he's an afthole).**

**Anyway,**

**Thanks for the reviews, my fellow Autobots and Decepticons, femmes and mechs. ;)**

**Warning: There is some swearing in this chapter.. (I dunno if I used bad language in the previous ones) but it's not like you guys care anyway. xD Just thought I'd warn you.**

* * *

><p>When Janice's eyes opened, the first thing she did was panic that she was in the med bay, resting on the medical table. A flood of embarrassment rushed in her mind when she made eye contact with Ratchet, who was currently running scans.<p>

"Janice!" He gasped with relief. "Oh, Primus, you're alright. What happened?"

She looked away, her face beginning to get red. "I fainted after I found out there was nerve in my le-OW!" She gasped with pain and nearly hit the ceiling, she jumped so high. Now in a sitting position, she looked down at her leg and saw the tip of one of Ratchet's needles sticking out of it. Slowly and painfully, he pulled it out. "I thought you said you'd never hurt me." She mumbled as she rubbed a hand against her leg. Wait. She paused. "I felt that.."

He turned around and tossed the needle in the trash. He didn't even look at her when he spoke. "It seems you've gained some feeling in one leg. The other is still.. dysfunctional."

Janice suddenly felt the embarrassment again. Why wasn't he looking at her? _Oh yeah_, she thought_, because I kissed him and now he wants nothing to do with me_. She thought about Sideswipe's words, but nothing seemed to help her. Even the fact she could feel in one leg didn't make her happy in the slightest. "Oh," Was all she said.

Still, he didn't even seem to sense she was uncomfortable around him. He still refused to make eye contact. "Everything else is normal."

She began to climb down off the table as he reached for a clipboard. "Then I should go-"

"_No_," He growled, scaring her. He spun around, his eyes almost the same color as fire.

She jumped slightly and then.. she couldn't take it anymore. So, he was only going to act worried when she awoke and _then_ treat her like this? "Stop being like this!" She yelled, to Ratchet's surprise. "Stop pretending like.. like.. what happened earlier didn't happen! Alright? I already feel terrible about it and you don't have to put on this 'strict' medic act. Okay?"

He looked offended. "_Strict _medic act?" His eyes slit in a glare and the clipboard he had in his hand was thrown to the side. It landed on another table, but slid off to the ground with a loud slap. "I'm a medical officer! I'm supposed to act like this! What, you think I'm supposed to just tell you everything is going to be okay? Is that it?" He almost got in her face as he yelled the last part. _"Is it?_" When she thought he was done, he continued. "And yes, I _will_ pretend like what happened earlier did _not_ _fragging _happen, because it shouldn't have! I am a professional and you are my patient. You are a human and I am a Cybertronian. We are two totally different species and we will _never be the same_."

It only took him seconds to say every single one of those harsh words, and during that time, he didn't even realize the tears lining her face with shiny tracks. His face softened when he did see it finally, but, before he could apologize, she had already begun to speak. "Funny," She began harshly, her words feeling like poison to his audio processors as she slowly stood up on her one leg, using the table to help gain her balance. She wasn't used to using her legs, let alone one, but the familiar feeling came back and she found herself able to balance. "How you say we will never be the same. Because you sounded _exactly_ like Tom."

Leaving those last words to sink in, and by the time Ratchet had processed them, she had already limped out of the med bay.

* * *

><p>Janice had to admit, being able to limp out of the med bay was a lot better than being able to wheel herself out of the med bay. It felt good to stretch her legs and actually feel it, but the pain of being talked so low to by Ratchet never ceased.<p>

She didn't know where to go to, or who to go to. Jolt would only care more about the fact that she could walk.. or limp.. rather than her Ratchet problems. Not that she didn't enjoy Jolt's company, but she just didn't want to talk about the fact she could feel in a leg. She wanted to talk to somebody who'd understand her more than that. Somebody who could give her good advice and make her feel better in her worst situations.

So, she guessed Sideswipe would have to do.

Although his words hadn't been a hundred percent accurate, he was still one of her better friends on base and she could admit she missed his 'charming' words. As she made her way to the Autobot hangar, she was stopped short by Will Lennox.

"Janice! You're walking!" He commented with a grin on his face. Then he paused. "Well, limping."

"Yeah," She said, not feeling too in the mood to stand in the blazing sun. She smiled anyway. "Just happened earlier."

He nodded. "Awesome. Hey, I gotta run. Talk to you later."

When he was gone, she continued to limp her way to the hangar. When she got inside, she scanned for Sideswipe and sure enough, found him. He was standing behind Ironhide and looked like he was about to dump a large Cybertronian-sized cup of some weird liquid on the weapons specialist's head. "Sideswipe!" She had meant to yell his name to get his attention, not warn Ironhide of his presence behind him.

Ironhide stood up, turned around and glared at Sideswipe, who smiled meekly at the taller mech. "Uh, hey there. I uh.. you see, I almost dropped my cup, but I was just about to walk away-"

Ironhide grabbed Sideswipe by the collar plating and pulled the prankster closer to his face. With a glare, he growled, "Get. Away. From. Me. Or so help me, I will shove my cannon so far up your ass, you'll be chewing on my bullets."

"Ironhide," Janice sighed and both Sideswipe and the trigger-happy Autobot turned their attention to her.

Ironhide paused for a second and then his jaw opened just a little. "You can walk now?"

"I can limp," Janice corrected. "But I really need to talk to Sideswipe, so if you could be generous and keep him online for another ten minutes, I'd be thankful. I'll even polish your cannons."

Ironhide released Sideswipe. "Fine," He hissed. "But keep the afthole away from me."

Janice nodded. "Deal. Sides, can I have a minute?"

"Ha," Sideswipe half laughed. "For saving my aft from Hades, god of the underworld, I'll do anything for you." He shuddered as he looked back at Ironhide before turning his attention back to the human. He sat down next to her. "What's up?"

She sighed and managed to sit down next to him. "Well, Ratchet and I got into a yelling match a couple minutes ago."

Sideswipe seemed interested at this point. "Do go on. What did he say?"

Janice took a deep breath and released it through her nose. Swallowing hard, she continued. "He said that.. he's pretending that I never kissed him, and he said we'll never be alike as a species."

Sideswipe looked hurt for her. He raised an eye ridge. "So he pretty much told you hates your guts?"

Janice let out a slight groan before looking away with a sigh. "I dunno, I guess so. I mean, the words didn't come out of his mouth, but the way he was yelling at me made it seem like he did."

Sideswipe froze and stared at her. Suddenly he burst out laughing. "Janice, how many times do I have to tell you? He doesn't hate you. He's.. let's just say he's insecure." He was still chuckling. "Ratchet has no idea how to come on to a femme. He's old and he's been stuck in that medical bay box of his for millions of years."

"He's not _old,_" Janice slit her eyes in a look that said 'are you kidding me'?

Sideswipe snorted. "I'm less than half his age."

"Then I guess that makes him younger than I thought," She snapped, but there was a hint of humor in her voice.

Sideswipe glared, clearly not enjoying her joke. "Funny. But," He began in a 'change the subject' tone, "He's doesn't hate you. Never has, never will. He's all stressed out and besides, you just caused a scene a while ago by blacking out, so that has his gears all backwards and his cables all tangled."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," She replied, sounding disappointed. She had hoped Sideswipe would have something to say that was better than 'he's insecure', or 'he'll come around'. Right now, she didn't believe that for one second.

He threw his hands in the air. "I give up. Look," He sighed, transformed into his alt mode and then activated his holoform, making it sit next to her. He got in her face. "If you don't wanna take my advice, or listen to what I have to say, then go talk to Ratchet yourself and figure out what his deal is, because I'm about this close," He put his thumb and index finger in front of her face, making sure they barely touched. "to barging in that med bay and beating his aft for an answer. Either you go back and talk it out, or you watch as I embarrass the living shit out of you."

Janice got the humor in his voice and couldn't help herself. She laughed and looked away. "Alright," She managed to say. "Alright, you win. I'll try to talk to him, but I doubt anything good will come out of it."

"Then shame on him," Sideswipe said in a non-sarcastic tone for once. "Because you are one awesome femme and if I were him, I'd definitely jump on that."

Janice smiled and took him in for a hug. "You're a sweet guy, Sides. Don't ever change."

When they pulled away he wiped his hands on his shirt as if to wipe off the invisible dust. Kinda like how they do in movies before saying a smart remark. He put on a smug grin. "I know I am."

Both of them stood up and Janice took a deep breath. "Well," She began with a sigh. "Here goes nothing, eh?"

"Go get him, chick," Sideswipe nodded before deactivating his holoform, and rolling out of the hangar.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you're right. Let's just forget none of this ever happened and start from scratch. Let's be friends again. I miss you and I'd like to start over," Janice stood in front of the med bay doors, talking to herself and hoping she'd have something to say by the time she entered. She groaned and face palmed herself. "Ugh, what am I thinking?" She turned he back to the door. "He doesn't wanna talk to me." Then she stood straighter and put on a determined look. "No, I need to do this. Sideswipe is counting on me."<p>

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, turned around and slowly pushed the doors open. When she opened them, she saw Ratchet's holoform sitting at his desk, his back to her and his alternate mode parked beside him, facing the same direction. At first she thought he was in his usual paperwork, but when she got closer, she saw that his head was on his desk.

Suddenly, the only thing that ran through her mind was.. Sideswipe was right. He _was_ insecure. "Ratchet," The name came out as a mere whisper, but it was just loud enough for him to hear.

She watched as he stood up and spun around. She expected the look on his face to be of pure anger, but when she saw his expression, she found herself beginning to tear up again. He rushed over to her and took her in for a hug. "Janice, I am absolutely sorry. I didn't know.. I didn't know how to act. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say and I let myself get out of control. Please forgive me."

His words had finally begun to sink in and she found herself wrapping her arms around him as well, returning the gesture. "I forgive you. I'm sorry for what I did."

"Don't be sorry," He told her, pulling away and placing both hands on her cheeks. "I didn't mean to make myself look like a reflection of _him_," He said, meaning Tom.

She found herself smiling, despite the tears that were coming down her face. "I know." When she saw his head get somewhat closer to hers, she felt her heart beat with excitement and she closed her eyes, waiting for the contact..

Instead, his hands left her cheeks and he pulled his head away. "I promise to never do it again. All I want is for us to be.. friends again."

The word slapped her in the face harder than Tom ever could. Before her shocked expression gave away her clear disappointed attitude, she shook it off. "Um," She forced a smile. "Yeah. I do too. Friends."

But _friends_ was by far an understatement of what she actually wanted to be.

* * *

><p><strong>RATCHET YOU IDIOTTTT WTFF IS WRONG WITH YOU? *Throws wrench* Taste your own medicine!<strong>

**Sorry. Sometimes I get into my own writing. ^.^'**

**You all do know you're lucky I love you all, right? xD I typed this up in one night. I hope it was good. If not, I promise the next one will be better.. because I'll be typing it when I'm not tired (It's midnight where I live) and in serious pain. I feel like I'd find more satisfaction cutting my arms off than dealing with sunburn. .**

**But then.. I'd have no fingers to type. D: Plus this little annoying fuggin' bug is pissing me off by hopping all over my computer screen..**

**Thanks for the reviews and GOODNIGHT! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just wanna say.. you guys are giving me some great ideas. xD This chapter is kinda short. I apologize. When you're done reading, please take the time to read the note at the end of the chapter!**

**Thanks! :)**

* * *

><p>When Sideswipe found out what Ratchet had told Janice about how he just wanted to be friends again, he nearly barged into the med bay himself and did what he told Janice he'd do if she didn't try and talk to him; beat his aft.<p>

"Stop!" Janice said harshly, grabbing Sideswipe's holographic arm in an attempt to prevent him from walking any further.

Sideswipe stopped, but this didn't stop him from turning around and telling her like it is. "So you don't want me to try and settle this?"

Janice let go of his arm and closed her eyes, producing a sigh. She opened them up again. "No, at least not the way you want to. He made it pretty clear he just wants to be friends, and I'm not gonna pressure him into being more than that if he doesn't want to."

"I will," Sideswipe raised his hand. "Because I know Ratchet and I know he's interested. Alright? Just let me go talk to him. Please?" He put his arms on her shoulders and stared into her face. "I promise I won't make a scene. I just need to ask him something and then I'll be out. Trust me, it'll make him come screaming back to you."

At first Janice didn't look back at him, but when she contemplated his words, she rolled her eyes and stared back at him. "Just one question?"

He nodded and released her shoulders. "Just one. I promise."

She nodded with a sigh. "Alright. Fine. But I'm staying here." When he was about to turn around and head for the med bay, she stopped him. "But I wanna know what the question was when you're done!"

He waved a hand back to her as he kept walking. "Yeah, yeah. I got you. I'll be a minute."

She slumped her shoulders as she watched him walk away.

* * *

><p>Ratchet, of course, was in the med bay when he heard the loud knocking on the door. He rolled his optics, but then calmed down, thinking it may be Janice. "Come in," He yelled. The door swung open harshly, and Ratchet turned his attention to it. He expected it to be Janice, but when he saw Sideswipe instead, he growled. "You aren't due for a checkup yet," Then he ran a quick scan on the nuisance. "And you aren't offlining. So get out."<p>

"I just had a question, doc," Sideswipe said as he continued to walk deeper in the med bay so he was practically standing on top of Ratchet. Most mechs would be afraid to get that close to the moody medic, but Sideswipe was no ordinary mech. Obviously.

Ratchet backed up, clearly annoyed. "Will you leave if I answer?" He had clenched his fist just in case he would need to sock the cocky prankster, since no wrenches were in arm's reach.

"Yeah, whatever, but are you and Janice.. dating? Or, are you interested in her?" Sideswipe asked, doing some sort of a strange motion with his hands to help emphasize his words. Ratchet thought it only made him look more like an idiot.

Ratchet looked taken aback by the question, but then he glared. "She's my patient. Of course not!" He turned back around, his back facing Sideswipe. "Now leave."

Sideswipe smirked as he began to walk out of the med bay. "Alright, cool. Because she is _fine_ and I think she's interested in me. Just making sure you weren't interested. I didn't wanna interfere." Mentally laughing to himself, Sideswipe left the med bay before Ratchet could even spin around and glare at him.

By the time Janice saw Sideswipe walking back to her, she knew something was up by the huge smirk he had plastered across his face. But then again, she should've known that this was going to be more than a 'simple' question. "Okay, what did you say.." She asked.

Sideswipe shrugged as if it was nothing, somewhat confusing Janice. "I just asked if he was interested in you."

Janice's eyes widened. "And what did he say?" She knew the answer, but she was hoping it would be something else. She had always hated getting her hopes up so high.

He shrugged again. It almost made her mad. "He said no. You're just a patient." When she saw his smirk get even bigger, Janice suspected that wasn't all.

"And?" She asked with an almost annoyed sigh.

Sideswipe laughed. "I said that was good because I was interested in you, and I was just making sure because if he was, I didn't wanna interfere."

Janice's jaw dropped. "You said _what_?" She slapped a hand to her face. "Oh my God. Did you real- SIDESWIPE!" She sat down in the middle of the ground, her hand on her forehead. She could hardly believe her own ears.

Sideswipe bent down to her level. "Janice, just play along, okay? This is all a part of my big plan."

"What?" She looked up at him. "Pretend that we're.. together? You're out of your mind, Sideswipe."

"Look, do you want Ratchet or not?" He glared at her, folding his arms. "Because I don't just offer help to anybody. I'm helping you because Ratchet needs to get laid so he isn't miserable all the time."

Janice laughed, but at the same time felt horrified at what he said. "Sideswipe, you are the most inappropriate person I've ever met. You do know this, right?"

He looked proud. "You fragging know it, Janice. Now," He paused, looking around as if to make sure the coast was clear. When he made eye contact again, his face was pure seriousness. "Are you willing to go with the plan?"

Scratching her forehead and producing an irritated sigh, she seemed to think about what he was offering. With a roll of her eyes, she smiled at him. "Fine. I'll go with it, but don't make it extremely awkward."

He smirked. "I would _never."_

* * *

><p>"<em>This<em>," Janice began, ducking her head and trying to hide her face in her hand as she walked, "is extremely awkward."

Her and Sideswipe were walking side by side. Well, she was still limping. Anyway, they were walking around the base, holding hands. She was trying not to laugh and Sideswipe was grinning down at her. "No, _this_ is going to get Dr. Doom out of his shell and make him come crawling back to you."

"You can't be serious," She had removed her hand from her face and was trying her best to pay as less attention to those watching them as possible. He gripped her hand just a tad tighter and Janice almost squealed. "Stop doing that!"

He smirked down at her. "You _love_ it." He suddenly pulled her into a hug and the next thing she knew, she was against a wall and Sideswipe was pinning her there. "Here comes Ratchet! Quick, follow my lead."

"What are you _doing_?" She whispered harshly. He didn't answer. "Sideswipe! Sideswipe, I swear, when this is all over I'm-" She was cut short when Sideswipe plunged his mouth against her own. She tried to pull away, but he had her locked.

Ratchet, who was walking by, did a double take at the scene not too far away. His eyes squinted as he tried to identify who Sideswipe was smooching with. When he saw, his jaw dropped. "_Janice_?" He was about to run over and break the nonsense apart, thinking Sideswipe was forcing her to do that (He had no idea..) but, when he saw her hand gripping the back of Sideswipe's neck as an invitation, he stopped.

Fury, jealousy and sadness were the three main emotions that flooded Ratchet's processors as he turned his back to the scene and walked the other way.

When Sideswipe noticed Ratchet was gone, he pulled away. Janice took a deep breath, panting hard. "You are _awful!_" She whispered loudly.

Sideswipe looked offended. "Ow! Harsh, much?"

"No_,_" She stuttered, realizing he had taken it the wrong way. "I didn't mean your kissing was awful.. I meant.. you as a person are awful! For doing this to Ratchet!"

Sideswipe snickered. "You should've seen his face. _So_ priceless!"

Janice looked confused as Sideswipe finally released her from the wall and she had room to breathe. "Your back was facing him. How did you see it?"

He pointed to his alternate mode, the silver Corvette Centennial convertible, which was facing where Ratchet had once been standing. "I see all." Then he got closer to her again. "Are you _sure_ you want _Ratchet_?" He twisted his face in a look that almost spoke of disgust. Then he smirked. "Because I dunno, we'd make a pretty hot couple."

Janice tried to hide a smile as she looked away. "Don't even go there. This was your plan to get Ratchet back to me, don't pretend otherwise."

He raised his arms in front of him defensively. "I just figured I'd give it a shot and ask," Then he looked behind him where Ratchet was last seen. "But holy hell, you should've seen his _face_. He looked pissed. Jealous for sure."

She watched as he ran a hand through his hair, the breeze making it gently sway. Snapping out of it, she rubbed her forehead. "Okay, well, I think I've had enough of making Ratchet jealous for a day."

Sideswipe spun to face her again. _"Already_?" He looked shocked. "We just started! Are you kidding me? We have to think of new _plans_!"

"How about this," Janice said. "You think of new plans, and I'll be somewhere else." She laughed.

"No," He shook his head. "You gotta stay here." He snapped his fingers. "I already have a new plan!" His grin couldn't have been cheekier.

She groaned. "What now?"

"How about this," He said, leaning down and grabbing her shoulders to emphasize what he was about to say next. "You are the damsel in distress-"

Before he could finish, Janice knew where he was getting at and shook her head rapidly, ducking under his arms and stepping away from him. "No way. I'm not putting myself in danger purposely so you can _save_ me."

Sideswipe stood straight and folded his arms. "Fine," He shrugged. "Then you come up with ideas and I'll consider them. How about that?"

"Deal," She said, holding out her hand.

Gripping it firmly, he smirked. "Pleasure working with you."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, this chapter wasn't as good as I had planned, BUT I'd like to make the next one as awesome as possible, SO, with that said, I'm giving you all the opportunity to <em>send me ideas<em>. You can send them in a _review, a private message, E-mail (my E-mails are listed on my profile. Either one will work!) or, if you really want, text message (Ask for the number) :P_**

_Here's what'll happen if you send me ideas-_

_1. I get the chapter done faster!_

_2. The more I get, the longer the chapter will be._

_3. You get to be a part of making Ratchet extremely pissed/jealous. ;)_

**So thank you all for your reviews! and I look forward to reading some sweet ideas! (I'll also be trying to come up with some of my own)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I was extremely bored one day and I decided to make short, crappy trailers for my stories. xD I actually posted the video on YouTube, so here's the link if you wanna check it out!**

**w w w . y o u t u b e. c o m/watch?v=9fBUyfAEEp8**

**Idk if it's against the fanfiction rules to post links, but oh well.. xD**

**The first video I have titled "Corrie" is actually supposed to say "Goodbye's the Saddest Word" for me recent story. Idk why I put it as "Corrie" in the video. xD**

**There are trailers for six of my stories in there. :) They're awful, but I was sooo bored.**

**1)Goodbye's the Saddest Word**  
><strong>2) Jillian&amp;Ironhide<strong>  
><strong>3)Extraterrestrial<strong>  
><strong>4)Rebirth<strong>  
><strong>5)Demonator<strong>  
><strong>6)Final Destination<strong>

* * *

><p>"You wanted to talk?" Optimus asked Sideswipe. He had to admit, he was pretty surprised when the jokester told him he needed a favor and who would Optimus be as a leader if he didn't hear what Sideswipe had to say?<p>

Sideswipe, on the other hand, knew he had agreed with Janice to allow her to come up with the ideas, but Sides knew she would never come up with something as good as this. He knew he'd be in trouble with her for it later, but if all worked out well, she'd be thanking him.

Sideswipe cleared his throat, as if to seem more.. 'professional'. "You see," He began. "I have a favor to ask of you, Boss."

Optimus leaned back into his chair some more, looking slightly interested. "Go on, Sideswipe," He said after a pause.

Sideswipe stood up from his chair across Prime's desk, placed his hands behind his back and began to pace back and forth. "I have a dilemma aboard this base, Mr. Prime," Sideswipe began with a loud sigh. Optimus raised an eye ridge at the formality, but waited for Sideswipe to continue. "Janice Gearing, the human female who has just recently joined us, has feelings for.. let's just say a certain mech."

Optimus's head jerked back just a tad. "Feelings?" He asked, getting a little impatient with Sideswipe.

Sideswipe stopped pacing and leaned in closer to Optimus's face. "Feelings. Yes," Standing up straight once again, he paced. Then he paused. "Are you against Human/Cybertronian relationships?"

Optimus stuttered for a second, but then gathered himself up. "No, Sideswipe. I do not have anything against it, but you do know the Human government does."

Sideswipe nodded in approval. "I see, but Janice is willing to.. have a _relationship _with said mech-"

"Who _is_ this Cybertronian we are discussing about?" After studying Sideswipe's smirk for just a few seconds, Prime's optics had widened. "Ratchet?"

Sideswipe sat back down in his chair, losing the formal act. "Yeah. She has this huge thing for him. I'm trying to get them together, you know?"

"If Ratchet does not have the same feelings," Optimus began," Then you should give up. It's not wise to force him into something he does not want." He was beginning to feel a tad awkward discussing this.

Sideswipe rolled his optics and placed a foot on the edge of Optimus's desk. "Yeah, I know _that_, but the thing is, Ratchet _does_ like her. He's just too much of a dipshit to do anything about it. Look," He leaned forward, removing his foot from Prime's desk. "You know how Ratch' is. He's not gonna do slag about this kinda situation unless he gets help. He's way too stubborn."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Optimus asked, his eye ridge still raised with concern.

Sideswipe smirked. "I'd like it if you just talked to Ratchet. Don't mention Janice's name. Don't mention my name. Just discuss.. relationships." He shrugged. "I dunno, didn't you have a thing with Elita-1?"

Optimus's shocked expression was priceless. "How do you-"

"Don't ask," Sideswipe placed a hand in front of his face. "But, talk about.. that. You've been friends with Ratchet for how long? A trillion years? I know you've talked about personal things together. This should be no different."

"And I have to be the one to do this," He shrugged. "Why?"

Sideswipe growled with slight annoyance. "Because, if I talk to him, he'll only look at me as a joke. If _you_ do it, then maybe he'll listen. You're his leader_ and_ his friend."

Optimus seemed to think over his words very carefully. "Sideswipe," He began, but stopped. He would technically be doing his good friend, Ratchet, a favor if what Sideswipe was saying was true. Then again, he'd be putting himself in Ratchet's personal business, which he didn't like too much. Finally, Optimus cycled his vents in a mechanical sigh and he nodded. "I will try to talk to him."

Sideswipe nodded as well. "Awesome. Thanks, Boss." He grabbed Optimus's hand and shook it rapidly. "I'd appreciate it if you got it done soon. Janice is being impatient." Of course, it was technically the _truth_.

Prime nodded once more. "I understand."

* * *

><p>Optimus could hardly believe he was on his way to the medical bay. On his way there, he had witnessed Sideswipe with Janice and they seemed deep in conversation as he passed by. As Optimus turned his direction back to the med bay, which was clear as crystal in the distance, he mentally wanted to turn back around, but his feet kept him walking.<p>

He wasn't sure what he was going to say, or how he would even start saying anything at all, but for Janice and Sideswipe, he knew he'd have to come up with something.

As he approached the med bay doors, he gently pushed them open and stepped in. It was a lot brighter in Ratchet's office than it had usually been. It almost seemed more welcoming than usual. He cleared his throat as he eyed Ratchet's back, which was facing him.

Ratchet turned around at the sudden feeling of being watched. When he saw Optimus, he stood straighter. "Can I help you, Prime?"

Optimus shuffled his eyes nervously for a split second before nodding. "Yes, old friend." He took a couple steps closer. "I was wondering if I could have a minute."

Ratchet's eyes slit in curiosity but he nodded his head anyway. "Of course, Optimus." Ratchet met Optimus half way and the two stood in front of one another at last. Ratchet folded his arms. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just curious," Optimus began, feeling slightly awkward at the next words he had chosen to come out of his mouth. "If you would be up for old time talk."

"Old time talk?" The medic repeated with question, slitting his eyes in confusion.

"I've been thinking about our past a lot lately. All those who we have met. New humans, new Autobots." Optimus sighed. He could admit it felt good having a talk with Ratchet like this. He hadn't done it in so long. "I couldn't help but notice Sideswipe and Janice have been getting a long lately."

Ratchet snorted and immediately turned around, waving Optimus's comment off. "I've noticed that already." He began fiddling with random tools.

"Although the Human government does not approve of our races.. being involved in one another like that, I, on the other hand," He paused and Ratchet turned his body slightly, just enough to get a look at Optimus from the corner of his optic. "approve."

Ratchet turned fully around. "Why are you telling me this?"

Optimus could see his shocked expression. Obviously he had not imagined Prime would say something like this, especially to the medic. Optimus's eyes did the nervous shuffle again. "Because. We are old friends and sometimes I must speak my mind to get it off my chest. We are so involved in war, we've forgotten our old ways. We've ignored the fact that the Human race has not only provided us with a new home, but a fresh start on a new life with different customs." He looked away. "And it has been too long since we have had a good talk."

There was an extremely long pause after those words had gotten out. Optimus was still surprised at the words he had chosen. It was definitely not like him to come to Ratchet, in the middle of the day, after so many years, and talk about this subject.

Still, he waited for a response from Ratchet, hoping he would be willing to talk. After all, he didn't want to feel like he failed Sideswipe and Janice.

When Ratchet moved an inch, Optimus's optics met his again.

"And it's also been too long since you've talked to Ironhide," Ratchet snapped, a little harsher than he had intended. "I'm very busy, Optimus."

Despite the medic's harsh response, Optimus could feel the corner of his mouth plates twitch in a small smile. He knew him long enough to know he had gotten through the hard-headed medic's processors. Turning around, he headed out of the med bay. "I understand, old friend."

Ratchet watched him leave.

* * *

><p>"No," Janice shook her head. "Absolutely not." She folded her arms as she stared down at the notebook Sideswipe was holding in front of her face, with a picture he had drawn on it.<p>

"Why!" Sideswipe slumped his shoulders, the notebook nearly falling out of his hand. "It's a good plan!"

Janice glared. "I'm not going to _seduce_ him!" She shuddered. "I don't even know why you drew a picture of that.."

"For reference," He sighed. "Okay, there's plan number two then."

"I'm not seducing _you_ in front of him, either," Janice growled before Sideswipe could finish.

Sideswipe stared at her for a while, completely silent. No emotion on his face whatsoever. Suddenly, he tossed the notebook on the ground and threw his hands in the air. "Fine, I give up."

Janice's eyes slit. "You said I was going to do the idea picking from now on anyway!"

Sideswipe rolled his eyes. "_Yeah_, but you're never going to come up with ideas that can compare to mine. Just sayin'."

Janice ignored his response by rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath. She was alert when she saw Lennox walking up to them. "Hey, guys. Just a heads up. We're gonna be taking a small vacation down to Jeddah. There's a theme park called Al-Shallal that me and a couple of the guys wanna check out. If anybody wants to come, you gotta follow me now. It's about a ten to twelve hour drive and we'll be back in a couple days."

Janice smirked at Sideswipe. "We'd _love_ to go."

Sideswipe caught was she was thinking and grinned. "Agreed."

Will raised an eyebrow and nodded in a confused manner. "Ah, alright then. Come on."

Janice paused. She wanted Ratchet to know _somehow_. "Hold on. I should probably tell Ratchet I'm going so he doesn't go looking for me."

Sideswipe couldn't help but laugh, knowing her plan. Will only nodded. "Alright, make it quick. I'll wait here."

With the help of Sideswipe, she managed to stand up and limp her way to the med bay. Limping on one leg often got tiresome, but she was stronger than most assumed and was always on the move. When she reached the doors, she limped inside the med bay.

"Hey," She said as she entered, her heart racing when she saw him standing up, messing with different machinery.

He snapped his head to her direction and smiled. "Hello," There was something in his voice that she found strange.

She pointed behind her. "Um, I was just coming in to tell you that Lennox and a few others are going down to Jeddah to go check out some amusement park. We'll be gone a couple days and me and Sideswipe-"

She was stopped short when a heavy wrench fell from his hand and fell to the ground. She jumped slightly from the loud noise it had produced. He bent down to pick it up. "So Sideswipe is going to take care of you while you are away?"

She didn't like the tone of his voice, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah." She flinched when he snorted. She glared, suddenly feeling protective over Sideswipe. "He's helped me out a lot recently. We've become good friends-"

"I've _noticed_," Ratchet said between gritted 'teeth', even though he was in bipedal mode. He shuddered when the flashback of witnessing Janice and Sideswipe practically on top of one another kissing came through his processors.

She cleared her throat, ignoring his angered tone. "I was just letting you know I was going to be away so you wouldn't wonder where I was." She paused. "And perhaps see if maybe you'd like to come along."

He looked surprised when he made eye contact. Then he shook it off. "I have a ton of work to get done. Sparing just an hour will put me far behind."

She nodded, trying to understand, but all that she could feel was anguish. "I see. Okay," She sighed and began to turn around. "I'll see you around, Ratch'."

Just like he had watched Optimus earlier, he watched Janice leave.

* * *

><p>"<em>Aaand<em>?" Sideswipe questioned as soon as she exited the med bay.

She shrugged. "I guess he doesn't care. I also asked if he wanted to come along," She paused.

Sideswipe waved his hands as if to urge her on. "Go on."

She shook her head. "He said no."

Sideswipe rolled his eyes. "Forget about him for now, huh? He's just got that anal probe still shoved up there." He put his arm around her and grinned. "We'll have fun without him, alright?"

She laughed, feeling better. She could always count on Sideswipe to make her smile during her rainiest days. She nodded. "Alright."

Little did they know, Ratchet was listening to them the whole time.

* * *

><p>When Janice and Sideswipe got back to Will, they followed him to a hangar Janice had never been in, only saw from outside. When she got in, her first thought was that it was different than the Autobot hangar. There were computers, telephones, and other communication devices stored inside. Even transportation vehicles.<p>

"Alright, listen up!" Lennox yelled, getting those who were going to Jeddah's attention. "We're gonna take about two jeeps and any other vehicles are any Autobots that decided to come along. So pick a ride and stick with it."

Sideswipe's holoform had instantly disappeared, and his alternate mode drove in the hangar shortly after. He parked next to Janice and opened his passenger door. Janice climbed in and looked at the driver's side, just in time to see him activate his holoform again.

Janice looked at any other Autobots who were going, and saw a yellow Camaro with black stripes going in the middle of it. She'd never seen that one before, and she was surprised to see two humans getting in. Then she remembered Ratchet telling her about a couple named Sam and Mikaela, and their Camaro, Bumblebee.

"Oh Primus," Sideswipe said with a laugh as he looked over at Bumblebee.

Janice, confused, raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

He shook his head, still laughing. "With Bumblebee added to my daily pranking group, we _are unstoppable_." Janice rolled her eyes. When she glanced back out the window, her heart began to race. Driving into the hangar, was the familiar ambulance. Ratchet. She was about to open the door, but Sideswipe locked it. "Don't. This could be the start of a new plan."

She glared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," He said. "That we could make Ratchet the most jealous mech in the history of Cybertron. Okay? So sit back, relax, and follow my lead."

She furrowed her eyebrows and watched as Ratchet's holoform stepped out of the Hummer. When they made eye contact, she tried hard to keep it, but she ended up looking away.

"Are we ready?" Lennox asked. When he got a series of yes's, he nodded. "Alright. Let's move!"

"Pit," Sideswipe whistled. "It's a fragging _amusement_ park, not a battlefield, Lennox."

Janice only laughed.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long before they all hit the road, and Janice would occasionally look in the side mirror's on Sideswipe to stare at Ratchet's alternate mode, which was driving right behind them..<p>

Sideswipe, to piss her off, would usually move his mirror so it was facing the sky. She would glare at him, but he would just laugh. "Stop thinking about him, would ya?" He asked.

She sighed and looked out her window. Saudi Arabia itself was one hot place. She had wiped the sweat off her forehead dozens of times, trying to convince Sideswipe to turn on his air conditioning a little higher.

Sometimes he would do it, and other times he would tell her to deal with it because it was a waste of energon. Her leg was beginning to cramp and she just wanted to stretch it out, but since Sideswipe had _conveniently_ chosen the world's smallest sports car as his alternate mode, she could not do that.

Finally, even though they had stopped a couple times at rest spots, it was a relief to see the long twelve hour ride had finally come to an end when the sight of roller coasters came into view. After they all parked and got out of the vehicles, they were surprised to see it wasn't as busy as they expected.

Will had been generous enough to buy every Autobot a ticket, including Janice. Food and drink tickets were included.

Janice was surprised to see it looked like a normal amusement park. As soon as they entered, she smiled when she saw all the little kids with their parents.

Will stopped them. "Okay guys, split into groups. It'll be easier. In about three hours, meet me back here and we'll decide on what we're doing after."

Everybody split into groups. Sideswipe had already called Janice and he had put his arm around her. She could feel Ratchet's glare burn through her and him. She did her best not to make eye contact. She was disappointed when he tagged along with Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee.

"I say we get ice cream first," Janice suggested, feeling dry-mouthed from the heat.

Sideswipe grinned evilly. "Alright." He followed her to a small ice cream stand. The only problem was, she couldn't read Arabic. Sideswipe gently pushed her. "Step aside. I know Arabic."

"You do?" She asked, looking full of disbelief.

Sideswipe raised an eyebrow at her. "Duh, I speak every language." He grinned. After looking at the menu, he asked her, "What flavor did you want? Tell me and I'll see if they have it."

"Just vanilla," She told him.

"Pfft," Sideswipe waved a hand at her. "How original. Vanilla it is." Turning back to the guy who worked the ice cream stand, Sideswipe finally gave him his order. When the guy said something Janice couldn't understand, Sideswipe held a hand out to her. "I need two tickets."

Obeying, Janice handed over two of the red tickets. After Sideswipe handed him the tickets, the man gave him a medium-sized bowl of ice cream with a spoon. The two walked over to a table and sat down. Janice took the bowl from him and began to eat slowly, absorbing the cold. She nearly spit it out when she saw who was coming their way.

Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Ratchet.

"Oh, good!" Sideswipe exclaimed. "I can introduce you to my buddies." Whistling, he waved them over. Bumblebee's holoform grinned and Janice shook her head with a smirk. She could already tell they were alike.

"Sideswipe!" Bee said as he gave his friend a fist pound.

"Hey bro," Sideswipe said, and then pointed to me when Sam and Mikaela walked up. "This is Janice. She's my GIRLFRIEND."

Janice glared at Sideswipe before glancing at Ratchet, who looked less than pleased. Then, turning her head, she stood up and smiled, reaching her hand out to Mikaela first. "Nice to meet you finally,"

"You too," Mikaela smiled kindly as she took her hand.

Janice went to Sam next. "I've heard a little about you three from Ratchet," They shook hands.

Sam smirked at Ratchet. "I bet he did."

Ratchet couldn't help but smile a little. Janice looked at Bumblebee. "So you're the infamous Bumblebee?" She reached out her hand, and instead of shaking it, he kissed it gently.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's always charming."

Sideswipe slapped Bee upside the head. "Hey, get off my GIRLFRIEND." Then he snickered when he saw Ratchet's expression. Taking the ice cream from Janice's hand, he filled the spoon with a small amount of ice cream and put it in front of her face. At first she was clueless, but then she realized this was a new plan of his.

Opening her mouth, and feeling extremely embarrassed, Janice took the spoon in and Sideswipe gently pulled it out, leaving the ice cream in her mouth. After doing this for a couple more times, Ratchet rolled his eyes, mumbled something under his breath, and walked the other way.

Sam watched him leave before turning his attention to a now laughing Sideswipe. "What's his deal?"

"Ratchet and Janice have a thing for each other, but he's being a hard aft and refuses to do anything about it. He's in denial," Sideswipe said. "So I'm trying to make him jealous to make him come running back to her."

Mikaela shook her head with a smile, while Sam cracked up. "That's great. Is it working?"

Sideswipe nodded a head to Ratchet, who was still seen walking away in the distance. "Judging by _that_, I'd say it is."

Bumblebee clapped his hands. "Priceless. If you need any assistance, I'm your mech."

Sideswipe stood up and placed an arm around Bee's shoulder. "Actually..."

* * *

><p>Janice didn't like the idea that Sideswipe had gotten Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee involved, but.. she really had no choice when it came to the prankster. Although he had agreed she would be picking the ideas, he obviously forgot that part.<p>

Three hours had gone by. Sideswipe, Janice, and the other three rode all sorts of rides while they waited for the hours to pass. Finally, they were on their way back to the main entrance when Sideswipe stopped. "Uh-oh,"

Janice followed his gaze and froze, confused, at what she saw. Ratchet was sitting next to a woman, talking to her. The two seemed to be having a nice conversation, while laughing. Ratchet was giving her a look Janice didn't like. But that wasn't what confused her. What confused her, was why Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Sideswipe all shared the same expression.

"What?" Janice asked.

Sideswipe bit his lip. "That's _Moonracer_."

"Who?" Janice, once again, was still confused. Her heart was pounding in her chest, almost able to predict why they all seemed worried.

Bumblebee walked up to Janice and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Moonracer and Ratchet have had a thing for _years_."

* * *

><p><strong>Dun, dun duuuuuuunnnnnnnnn. D: Uh oh! Moonracer? No Ratchet! Don't go down that road!<strong>

**Janice isn't too happy... that's for sure.**

**Thank you for the ideas guys! :D I'll be sure to use more next chapter as well!**

**First, I'd like to thank _Autobotally45_ for the idea of getting Optimus involved. :) It was brilliant, and hopefully it opened Ratch's optics a tad. ;)**

**_keacdragon_, who also gave me a similar idea to Autobotally45, but I'm giving everybody who gave an idea full credit, so thanks guys! (I might do something with Ironhide, like you said)**

**_Ardikani4_, I will most definitely think about _that_ idea. ;) Can't go wrong with that, can we? And I'm sure it'll grind Ratchet's gears! Thank you!**

**_Stargazing Strangers_, Thank you for the ice cream idea! And don't worry, I will be using your other ideas in future chapters! (Possibly the next) :)**

**_Roc2Roll_, thank you for the amusement park idea! I managed to find one in Saudi Arabia! Who knew! xD**

**I'm pretty sure I covered them all! If you have any other ideas that for Sideswipe and Janice or maybe even Ratchet and Moonracer, please do tell! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Warning_! This chapter is extremely short! Mainly because this is like the "conflict" chapter. This is where ALL the confusion begins between Janice, Sideswipe and Ratchet all packed in about 1500 words! D: Don't worry, other chapters will be LONGER! :D**

**I've taken all new ideas into consideration.. but.. you may not see them come into play right away. I'm going to see what I can do.**

**Thanks, though!**

**P.S. (Kind of a spoiler too) This is NOT the last of Moonracer, so if you have any ideas, keep them coming! :)**

* * *

><p>After Janice found out that Ratchet and Moonracer once had a thing, and it's been going on for years, she could literally feel her heart drop. This was not expected. Sideswipe and the others would try to make her feel better by saying things like, "Don't worry, nothing serious has ever happened between them before. It's not likely it would happen now."<p>

But she wasn't easily convinced. There were times they could tell she wanted to cry, but was holding it in. Sideswipe tried to make her laugh by saying he would always be her next option if she was up for it, but she obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes.

No longer wanting to stay at the amusement park, Sideswipe talked to Lennox and convinced him to let the Autobot drive Janice back to base while the others stayed at a nearby motel. Of course, this meant Janice would have to tell Ratchet she was leaving so he would know.

This also gave her the opportunity to get a better look at Moonracer. As she found herself limping up to the couple now standing up, ready to leave, she dug her hands in her pockets as she limped. She had started to get a little feeling in her other leg, but it was not enough to add full pressure on yet.

As she made her way to them, she could already feel her body turn cold despite the heat, from her nervousness. She noticed Ratchet had turned to face her as she approached. "Um, I just came to let you know that I was gonna head back to base with Sideswipe. I'm not feeling good, so he's gonna drive me back."

Ratchet looked panicked for a second and she could tell he ran a scan. "Why would you tell him?" She heard the unfamiliar voice ask, and Janice turned to see that Moonracer had asked her the question.

Before Janice could glare and say something back, Ratchet interrupted. "She is a patient of mine from the United States, Moon," Ratchet told her. Then he directed his attention back to Janice. "Why wouldn't you have just asked _me_ to take you?"

Janice was going to lie and say she didn't want to bother him, but instead, she was going to be blunt. "I figured you two would want to catch up." Ratchet's head flinched back from the slight harshness in her voice. "And I didn't want to be a bother."

"Janice-"

She laughed and held up a hand. "No, don't worry about it. I get it, okay? Things are awkward now, and I just want to go back to base." Then she sighed and looked at the horizon, which was now a shade of purple from the sunset. "Maybe even go home. I'm better after all, and I'm capable of living on my own again."

Ratchet let loose some air out of his nose as if to sigh. "I think we need to talk."

There was a whistle behind her, and Janice turned to see Sideswipe waving her to hurry up. He wanted to head back to base before it got too late. She nodded before turning back to Ratchet. "I have to go."

After she had said that, he watched her walk away.

Moonracer had her arms folded, clearly unable to hide all of her obvious jealousy. "So a patient, huh?"

Ratchet, clearly not in the mood, nodded. "Yeah," His tone was dry. "A patient."

Suddenly her frown formed into a smile and she took a step closer, placing her hands on his cheeks she directed his face towards his. "I've missed you, Ratchet." As her face got closer to his, and her lips touched his, Ratchet found himself pulling away.

"You know where this will lead," He said. When she looked at him confused, he added, "Nowhere."

She frowned. "Ratchet, we've been trying for one another for thousands of years." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her body closer to his. "I just want to work something out."

Once again, he pulled away, this time making sure there was at least two feet in between them. "I can't do this because," He paused and she waited for an answer. "Because.." Then he stood straighter, his face more calm. "Because I've found somebody else."

He could hardly believe he blurted it, but for some reason, it felt good coming out of his mouth. It was as if all the weight of the world had been lifted off of him. "_What_?" She snapped. "Who-" Then she paused, remembering Janice. "A _human_? Really Ratchet? A human femme?"

He nodded. "There is nothing wrong with that. After all," He began. "The Humans have given us a new life with different customs."

"Says _who_?" She demanded, glaring.

Ratchet smirked, remembering those very wise words from one of his old friends back on base. "Optimus Prime."

She snorted and Ratchet frowned. "Optimus Prime. You're telling me that Optimus Prime told you it was okay to do this?"

He nodded with a shrug. "Yes. I am."

She shook her head with an ignorant laugh. "I'd rather doubt that."

Ratchet did not say anything to that. Instead, he turned around and began to walk the other way. "If you'll excuse me," He began as he got further from her. "I have somebody to catch up to."

* * *

><p>As Janice climbed into the passenger seat, Sideswipe got in the driver's seat and started his engine. He decided to screw the energon and turn on the air conditioning full blast, knowing at least that would make her feel a little better.<p>

As he began to slowly drive away from the park, Janice spoke. "I'm such an idiot."

Sideswipe stopped his alternate mode gently. Putting it in park, he turned his body towards her. "No, you're not," He began. "Ratchet is the idiot. He's the one who made the wrong decision, not you. I've known Moonracer for a long while now, and lemme tell you something," He paused and waited for her to look at him. "I've known a lot of femmes my entire life. I've been involved in a lot of them, but, I've never met one like you. You're attractive, nice, smart.. sometimes funny, but let's not get too carried away." He was proud to see that she was trying to hold in a laugh. "Trust me. It's nice to meet a femme who isn't scarred for life by war. Somebody who you can just relax with and know that.. if you ever were to get involved with her, at least you wouldn't have to worry that she wasn't going off to fight in battle."

She put on a shy smile as she made eye contact with him. "You know," She began with a laugh. "You aren't so bad after all, Sides."

"I know," He winked. "I'm charming, but what can I say?"

She shook her head with a playful smile as she took his hand and held it in her own. "I'm glad you were one of the few who was there for me. I'm thankful you dedicated so much of your time trying to help me. I'm proud to say I know you, Sideswipe."

A small, gentle smile had made its way to his lips as he leaned forward and sure enough, Janice found herself leaning closer to him as well. For some reason, Ratchet hardly came into her thoughts as she locked lips with Sideswipe once again. This time, she wasn't doing this to make Ratchet jealous, and she wasn't desperately trying to pull away. She was actually enjoying this, and maybe that's what felt weird to her.

Of course, little did she know, the weird feeling she was receiving could have been the feeling of being watched. And sure enough, in the distance, Ratchet was watching with disbelief.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh God, Janice! Sideswipe was wrong.. she <em>is<em> an idiot! D: Now Ratchet is probably confused...**

**Thanks for the reviews and the ideas! :DD**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the ideas! I didn't get any on Moonracer much, and I decided not to include her as much as I thought I was going to, so she'll be in here briefly. xD**

**I may not get to everybody's idea, (If you gave me one) but I'll definitely use what I can!**

* * *

><p>The Sun was beginning to peak above the horizon, making it just bright enough to move around outside without the use of a flashlight or other light source. Further away from the motel, where nobody was sure to see them, Ratchet and Moonracer both lay on the ground in bipedal mode.<p>

Moonracer had a soft smile on her mouth plates as she rolled on her stomach and placed an arm over Ratchet. "I've almost forgotten how powerful you are." She giggled softly as she stroked sensitive cables. Ratchet sighed heavily from the contentment he was receiving from her touch. He smiled down at her, but said nothing in return. She continued to play with his cables and wires gently, "I have a proposal."

This caught his attention and made his spark skip a pulse. "What is that?"

She tried to hide her smile as she spoke, but it was useless. "Well, I would really like to make things work, and I was wondering.. hoping, actually, if you'd be willing to-" She paused. "Bond."

"Moonracer," He could admit he was shocked, and it was clear all over his face and before he could say something else, she had already begun to climb over him.

"Shh," She purred. He could feel her already opened spark chamber getting closer to his. He could see the lights almost coming in contact with one another and if he let this happen, it would be forever.

Forever?

A sudden panic overwhelmed his entire system. Not thinking twice he crawled out quickly from underneath her, making her fall to the ground. "Moonracer, I can't do this." Closing his chamber, he frantically stood up.

She did the same and stood up, glaring. "Why not?" She folded her arms. "Because of that stupid Human? Forget about her," She growled. "She's worthless and crippled."

Suddenly he did remember Janice. She had said she may go home and she had left last night. She would already be at base by now, no doubt. Probably already on a flight back home. He compared her to Moonracer and discovered something. With a glare that would even scare Megatron, Ratchet unfolded his arms. "Don't take this personally," He began sourly as he transformed into his alternate mode. Before he sped off down the dusty road, he finished. "But I would rather bond with a Human than a ruthless Cybertronian femme."

With wide, offended and shocked optics, she watched him disappear around the corner.

* * *

><p>When Sideswipe had finally gotten Janice back to base, he was running extremely low on energon from lack of recharge, but she slept the full ten to twelve hours like a baby. It must've been around seven or eight in the morning by the time the hangars outlined the horizon.<p>

As Sideswipe pulled in, exhausted, he shut his alternate mode down and turned his body to face Janice. Taking his hand, he gently tapped her shoulder. "Janice, wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and she squinted from the now arising Sun. "We're here?" She asked, her voice muffled from tiredness.

He smiled. "Yup, we're here." Then his smile faded into a look that had no emotion. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

She took in a deep breath before nodding. "I'm sure," She smiled meekly at him. "I just need to go home and be away for a while. I'm sure I'll be able to visit sometime."

He nodded with a grin. "Yeah," Unfortunately, he couldn't hold the grin and he frowned. "Just.. uh.. just contact me somehow and I'll get you back here whenever." Then he laughed. "And maybe Ratchet will be less of an ass."

She looked away with a smile before opening the door and getting out. "So, how am I getting home?" She laughed.

"Stratosphere," Sideswipe said.

Janice looked confused. "What?"

Then he nodded his head in the direction of a large cargo plane. "That's Stratosphere. You haven't gotten the opportunity to meet him yet because he was on a mission when you first came in."

Janice swallowed hard. "He's nice, right?" Surely something as big as him would have to be intimidating somehow.

Sideswipe laughed. "Nice? He's the biggest gentle giant I've ever met. He'll probably talk to you the whole fraggin' ride back to the States." Then he placed a hand on her back and urged her on. "Come on, I'll introduce you." As they got closer, Sideswipe patted a hand against the massive plane's side. "Strato! You awake?"

Janice nearly jumped from the booming voice. "I'm awake. This must be Janice. The girl I'm taking back home."

Janice nodded. "That's me. It's nice to meet you, Stratosphere."

She jumped when the loud booming voice was now softer behind her. Turning around, she saw a man, or, she guessed to be Stratosphere's holoform. He held a hand out to her with a gentle smile. "Pleasure's all mine, Miss."

She took it for a smooth, gentle shake. "I guess we should head out now while it's still early."

He nodded in agreement and Sideswipe looked away. "Sure thing, Miss. I'll start myself up and I'll meet you at the cockpit." She nodded as his holoform disappeared and the engine of the plane was now able to be heard.

As she turned around to say goodbye to Sideswipe, he had already pulled her in for a friendly hug. "I'm gonna miss you, Jan'."

She wrapped her arms around him. "I'll miss you too, Sides. I'll try and contact as often as I can, okay?" She pulled away and smiled.

He gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. "Alright. Sounds good to me." As he helped her make her way to the entrance of Stratosphere, they locked eyes one final time before she turned her back and headed inside. As the entry door slowly closed and locked, that was the last Sideswipe saw of her.

She made her way to the cockpit and sat down in one of the chairs. Stratosphere's holoform was already in one of the seats. "Just sit back and relax," He smiled at her. "I'll get you back home in no time."

"Thank you," She replied, setting two bags she had brought with her on the floor next to her.

As Stratosphere prepared for takeoff, Sideswipe stood nearby, watching the entire scene until the massive 'Bot was no longer visible.

* * *

><p>It would've been nice and peaceful in the small town near the Qatar base if the loud, obnoxious sounds of sirens and horns hadn't disturbed it. Ratchet could hardly believe he had made it to base in just eight hours worth of travel. He was hoping and praying that she was still on the base, and that what she had said yesterday about going home was just a lie.<p>

As he rushed through the hangars, completely exhausted with energon levels low, he scanned the entire base, but did not see her. His spark seemed to pound faster when he caught sight of Sideswipe, who was cruising slowly.

Transforming into his bipedal mode, Ratchet ran over to the silver mech and Sideswipe had to transform as well and nearly duck for cover when he thought the medic was going to step on him. "Woah! Ratchet! Watch it, man. The paint!"

Ratchet grabbed Sideswipe by the shoulder plates, not caring if he was making a scene and everybody else was staring. "Where is Janice?"

Sideswipe pointed in the air. "With Stratosphere. He took her back home. They left like eight or nine hours ago." Then he shoved Ratchet off of him. "And it's about fragging time you came to your senses, you moron."

"Where is he dropping her off?" Ratchet asked, clearly ignoring the last part Sideswipe had to say.

Sideswipe shrugged. "I dunno. The same place you guys were picked up at?" Then Sideswipe figured he deserved more of a sarcastic remark. "Unless he plans to air-drop her on top of her house." He shrugged.

Ratchet glared daggers at the cocky mech before him. Instead of attacking him verbally, the medic spun around. "I need a lift to the US right away!" He hadn't directed the demand at anybody in particular, but he looked around, hoping to see a C-17 pilot or at least somebody who flew a plane big enough to carry him. When nobody responded to him, he growled. "Slaggit! I need a lift! Can anybody fly a fragging airplane around here?"

"We'll take you," Ratchet spun to the voice. He recognized the female and the male as they stood side by side. "We're pilots to that there C-17." The man pointed to the colossal Globemaster III.

"Wonderful!" Nodding, Ratchet transformed and followed the two humans as they ran to their plane.

Sideswipe shook his head as he transformed and rolled away. "Glitch.."

* * *

><p>Seven hours had passed and finally, Janice was at the airport she had been picked up at back when Ratchet was still taking care of her. "You sure you can handle the rest on your own?" Stratosphere asked as she stood up to exit.<p>

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, Strato. Thank you again for the flight. I appreciate it."

He grinned. "Anytime. If you ever want a lift back for a visit, just contact base and I'll get'cha there."

"I appreciate that," She told him before waving. "See you."

After she got out of him, she took a look around. The temperature wasn't nearly as hot, and she had to admit it felt good to be home. Her heart sank when she realized she had no way of transportation back to her house, so she thought it would be wise to hail a cab.

As she got in a taxi, she told the man that she would need to run up to her house first to get the money and then pay. He only nodded in acknowledgement. She couldn't have been happier to see all the familiar buildings and streets that she had been away from for weeks.

And then her heart raced when she saw her house in the distance. When they pulled up to her house, she got out of the taxi, ran up to her front porch, lifted up the rug and pulled out the hidden key. Unlocking her door, she marched in, tossed her bags on the couch and headed upstairs to get her wallet.

After that, she had paid the taxi driver and was relaxing on her couch, watching television and checking mail. Completely exhausted from all the travel, she couldn't help but fall asleep.

When she woke up, she had checked the time only to find out that she had spent about six hours sleeping. Feeling light-headed, she stood up and reached for the remote to shut the television off. After that she decided that maybe she should take an Advil or two because her light-headedness had quickly turned into a headache.

As she entered the kitchen, she reached her hand out to grab the pills, but something unusual happened.

As she reached for the bottle, she had just barely managed to grab it when both of her legs had somehow felt as if they had lost feeling again, and she stumbled forward, hit her head off of the counter and blacked out.

* * *

><p>Three hours later and finally Ratchet had made it to the same airport Janice had been dropped off at. As soon as the cargo hold door opened, Ratchet found himself backing out of it frantically. He almost forgot to activate his holoform, which would've been bad if anybody saw him.<p>

Remembering her address from the files he had recovered back when they first met, he activated his sirens and sped off down the road.

He loved the power his sirens gave him as every car on the road pulled over to let him pass, making him get to her house in half the time.

Finally he had reached the correct street and after turning his sirens off, he began to examine each house. Sure enough, he found the right one and pulled up on the sidewalk as much as he could. After getting out of his alternate mode, his holoform dashed up the steps. He knocked on the door loudly. "Janice?" After waiting a few seconds without a response, he tried knocking louder. "Janice!" Walking over to the window on the porch, he was able to see that a light was on despite the curtains blocking most of his view. She was definitely home.

Walking back to the door, he reached for the door handle and twisted. He was surprised to find the door was unlocked and he dashed in. He noticed there was mail sitting on the coffee table in front of the television, and he examined the name on each envelope. _Janice_ _Gearing_. He was definitely at the right place.

"Janice!" Calling her name again, he did not get a response. Then his spark began to race. What if something had happened to her? Dashing into the dining room, he saw nothing, and then as he entered the kitchen, his spark nearly failed. "Oh, sweet Primus!"

Dashing over to where she lay, he fell to his knees and grabbed her. She was still fully functional, but he noticed the blood coming from her head and he picked her up bridal style. His scans picked up that both her legs were no longer functional, and that this was likely the cause of the fall.

Dashing back into the living room, he rested her on a couch and headed down to his alternate mode to get any medical tools he would need.

* * *

><p><strong>D: Cliffy?<strong>

**This chapter was annoying to type because I had to switch scenes so quickly. D: I tried to add a lot of detail rather than just dialogue so it didn't seem too boring.**

**Thanks for the reviews! And thank you to keacdragon for giving me the idea of Ratchet going to find Janice after she arrived at the US! And thank you to Roc2Roll for the idea of Janice's legs acting up again! :)**

**(And If I missed anybody by accident, thank you for your ideas as well!) :))**


	10. Chapter 10

**I feel like writing.. D: I just had my 9:30 snack. ;) Haha just kidding, i've been hungry lately and I have no idea why.. maybe it's because my grandparents have the air conditioning off and it's so hot in here... -_-**

**Anyway, i'll stop my complaining and get to typing. ;P**

* * *

><p>Ratchet had tried to wake Janice up, but she was knocked out cold and he wasn't sure for how much longer. He had already wrapped her head with bandages and managed to stop the bleeding. Now all he had to do was wait until she awoke.<p>

He was sitting on the couch and she was laying on top of his lap. His hand was gently brushing her cheek as he watched her steady breathing. Somehow he felt as if this was his fault, and something in the back of his mind told him it was.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "I should've always been there for you," He opened his eyes and looked away. "I should've never let anything get between us." He began to think about Moonracer and how much of an idiot he must have looked like to Janice.

And what did Sideswipe mean when he said it was about time? Were they really trying to get him to come to her? To show his true feelings? Or was he just _that_ oblivious? Then he began to think. The kiss she shared with him. The kiss she shared with Sideswipe. The ice cream incident at the amusement park. How Sideswipe would always yell "My GIRLFRIEND" when he was near.

It was all starting to come together. He could've slapped himself for being such a fool. And he could only imagine how devastated she was when she saw him and Moonracer together at the park. Then he looked horrified. Or how devastated she _will_ be if she found out what had happened last night. Now he was debating on if he should tell her or not when she awoke.

What kind of person would he be if he didn't?

He was going to try and think about how to tell her, but then she stirred and her eyes slowly opened. "Oh thank goodness, Janice." He said as he gently picked her up and rested her on the couch so he was not underneath her. He leaned down next to the couch.

"Ra-tchet?" She managed to whisper out. She looked sick, he could tell. "Is that you?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's me. I'm here, okay? You fell and hit your head Janice."

She nodded, but winced. "I remember." He could see the small smile form on her lips. "I guess I have a knack for getting injured."

He cracked a smile of his own. "I wrapped your head in bandages. You have a minor concussion.

"I'm sorry, Ratchet."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Sorry for what?"

"For the whole Sideswipe incident. You know, we were only doing it to-"

"Get my attention," He finished for her. "I know. I realize this now."

She looked up at the ceiling. "I didn't mean for it to happen like this."

He shook his head. "Don't worry and don't apologize. You didn't deserve half of the things I said to you. All that matters is, is that I'm here with you."

"But Moonracer-"

"Is not coming back into my life ever again," He told her. He placed his hand on her cheek again, using his thumb to gently caress her face. "She said some things that were not necessary and therefore, she does not have any respect from me any longer."

"I know you cared for her," Janice said.

Ratchet nodded and looked at the cushion of the couch. "Once upon a time." He looked back at her. "I did some things last night I regret."

"I know."

He looked surprised. "You.. do?"

She laughed a little and shrugged. "It's kinda obvious. Plus, I'm a woman. We're practically mind readers."

"So," He looked nervous. "You're okay with it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Absolutely not." Then she sighed. "But you shouldn't regret things."

"Why's that?"

"Because at one point, it's exactly what you wanted."

He looked hurt as he averted his eyes from her face. "I know."

"But," She said, reaching her hand so it covered his on her face. "Sometimes it's understandable. I mean, I.. shouldn't have done what I did with Sideswipe."

"I don't blame you. He was being a good friend and I was.. well.. _not_ being a good friend,"

"It's okay," She whispered. Groaning, she put a hand on her forehead. "My head hurts."

Frantically standing up, he rushed to the front door. "I have pain medication in my alternate mode. I'll be right back, Janice."

When he came back, he sat the bottle of pills on the coffee table next to the couch and went in the kitchen to get a glass of water. When he came back in the living room, she was already sitting up, reaching for the pills.

He leaned back down next to her as she opened the bottle and took one out. "Just one?" She asked.

He shook his head. "You can take two if you'd like." As she took a second one, she put them both in her mouth and he gave her the water. She drank it down, along with the pills. He placed a comforting hand on her knee. "Besides the headache, how are you feeling? Is your stomach upset at all?"

She shook her head. "No."

He nodded. "Okay, good. I'm so sorry." He looked away. "If I wasn't an idiot, this wouldn't have happened."

She placed a hand under his chin, making him look back up at her. "Stop blaming yourself." Her eyes were glossy as she smiled at him. "Or else I'm going to give you a concussion!"

He laughed and stood up before sitting next to her. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he gently pulled her closer to him and she leaned against his chest. "Can you feel your legs?"

She nodded. "A little. I dunno what happened though."

"Who knows," He sighed. "I'm worried if I leave, something bad will happen."

She turned her head uncomfortably to stare at his face. "Then don't leave." She buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arm around him.

"I haven't finished everybody's checkups on base," He said. "I have to."

"I'll come back to base with you,"

He was a bit surprised. "How about this," He began. "I'll stay here with you for a few days until the pain goes away, and then I'll take you back to base."

She nodded. "I like the sound of that."

"Good," He said, standing up, causing her to have to pull away. Then he turned around and lifted her up, bridal style. "Of course, I'm going to put you in your room. You need rest."

She couldn't argue with that, feeling exhausted and all. She allowed him to carry her to her room, helping him find the way to it as well. Finally, he had managed to pull the covers down on her bed and gently rest her on top, covering her back up. "Thank you,"

He nodded. "Television off or on?"

She shrugged. "You can turn it on if you want. Volume low."

He did as he was told. Walking past her to leave the room, he paused. Going back over to the bed, he leaned down beside her. "I'll be right downstairs if you need me."

She nodded, "Okay."

Standing up, he began to turn around but stopped. Once again, he found himself standing over Janice. Bending down, he stopped, but then continued and gently pressed his lips against her cheek. Smiling, he turned back around and left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>A few days had come and gone, and sure enough, Janice was fully capable for travel. Her pain had ceased and she was currently standing up, packing more bags and other items she would need. Her legs were fine for now, but Ratchet had told her to be alert for any bad signs. He said it could be temporary.<p>

After she packed three bags, Ratchet offered to carry them down for her, just in case she were to fall. Once that was all taken care of, and all of her stuff was back in the Hummer, they got in and Ratchet drove to the airport where Stratosphere, who was not on duty, was meeting them.

"He's happy to see you again," Ratchet snorted on their way to the airport.

Janice giggled. "He's a sweetheart."

Ratchet only shook his head. "I got a communication link from Sideswipe."

Janice's attention was immediately caught. "And?"

"He wanted me to give you a message," He paused. "'It's about slagging time'."

She looked confused. "What's about 'slagging' time?"

"That was his message."

"Oh," She paused, and then laughed, getting the message.

Ratchet rolled his eyes and glared at her. "Ha-ha, laugh it up."

"What are you talking about?"

"You think I don't know what he's talking about?" The medic chuckled, not even making eye contact.

Janice felt her face turning red. "I'm just saying, it was all his idea. Not mine."

"Figures."

The two were silent for the remainder of the trip. Finally, when they got there, she could already see the other, giant Autobot waiting for them. He continued to drive, went through some security gates like usual, greeted some of the security guards and headed for the plane. Stratosphere didn't need to be told they were coming, because as soon as he saw them, his cargo hold immediately lowered.

"Welcome aboard," The loud voice echoed in the cargo hold.

"Hey, Strato'," Janice yelled as a greeting.

"I'd like to get there as fast as possible," Ratchet said.

There was a loud chuckle. "Can do."

As she felt the engine come to life, Janice took off her seatbelt and rested her feet on the dashboard. She knew she was in for a long, boring ride. "I'm so sick of long plane and car rides."

Ratchet glanced at her before giving off a chuckle. "Tell me about it."

* * *

><p>Finally Janice saw the familiar surroundings of Saudi Arabia, and sure enough, looking down below, she could already see the hangars and other buildings of the SOCCENT base. As Stratosphere landed at the airstrip, Ratchet backed out of the cargo hold and his tires met the familiar gravel, he took off down towards the medical bay.<p>

As they traveled, Janice saw the silver Corvette. "Can you let me out so I can go say hi to Sides?"

Ratchet smiled as he slowed down. "Go ahead." As he came to a stop, Janice opened the door and hopped out, being careful just in case her legs went numb again.

As she closed his door, Ratchet continued driving to the med bay. Janice, who was wearing a light jacket, put her hands in her pocket as she walked towards her friend who she hadn't seen in days. She saw his holoform chatting with another soldier, or maybe even another Autobot she hadn't had the chance to meet.

As she got closer, she ran a hand over the hood of the Corvette, smiling. Sideswipe, who could feel the action, turned his head to look at who was touching him. When he saw Janice he laughed and walked over to her, giving her a giant hug. "Hey, it's my new best friend!" He joked as he pulled away.

She chuckled. "Nice to see you again."

He noticed the scar on her forehead. "See what you get when you leave us?"

She shook her head. "Very funny," Then she looked behind her, where she last saw Ratchet. "Though, I think I'm here for the rest of Ratchet's stay."

He nodded. "Then you'll be here for a few months," He paused. "Awesome!" Then he turned to face the other person who he was talking to. "I haven't introduced you to them yet, but this is one of the twins, Skids. He's a chill dude."

"Nice to meet you, Skids," Janice nodded with a polite smile.

"Yo," Skids nodded. "So you's the new doc bot's chick?"

She laughed. "Uh, I wouldn't quite call it that, but if that's what you wanna think."

Skids nodded with an approving grin. "Nice."

"Where's your brother?" Sideswipe asked him.

"He's sneakin' some high grade from the 'Bot hangar," Then he shrugged. "He was supposed ta be back an hour ago."

"Dammit," Sideswipe growled. "Probably had a run in with Ironhide. That afthole is always takin' the good stuff for himself."

Janice shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You guys are awful."

"Yeah," Sides said. "So what's up with you and Hatchet?"

"Nothing, I guess. Why?"

He shrugged. "Aren't you guys like.. dating now? Or whatever you Humans call it."

"No," She shook her head. "Um, he's just helping me again, so I think we're just staying friends."

"Aw, hell no," Sides shook his head. "No. I did _not_ go through all those plans, spend all that time and waste valuable pranking sessions to just have this _not_ work."

Janice laughed. "Okay, but none of the plans even worked."

"Uh, yeah they did," Sideswipe said. "Why do you think he went back to the States desperately looking for you?"

"Okay, so it worked a _little_, but I did most of the work by falling and cracking my head off the kitchen counter."

Sideswipe couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'm gonna have to start calling you Miss Accident Prone. I'll have to think of something more creative later."

"Is that the best you can do?"

Sideswipe glared. "Shut up."

Janice smiled. "That's what I thought."

"Oh, go make out with Ratchet."

Skids snickered.

Janice slapped Sideswipe's arm playfully. "Jerk!"

Sideswipe hardly flinched. "Ouch?" Then he folded his arms and gave off a proud look and smirk. "This is a holoform. You can't hurt me."

Looking around, Janice picked up a rock the size of a fist and gently threw it in the air, catching it with her hand over and over again, glancing back and forth between Sideswipe's holoform, and his alternate mode. "Wanna bet?"

Sideswipe suddenly got defensive. "Don't you _dare,"_

"Oh snap, man," Skids snickered. "She gon' do it!"

Janice tossed the rock on the ground. "Nah. I'm too nice. But don't think I won't if you keep being an ass to me," She smirked back at Sideswipe.

"Ass is my middle name.. well since I don't have a last name, I guess it would count as my last."

"Okay," Janice rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go back to the med bay."

Sideswipe shuddered. "So if we hear weird noises, we should stay away?"

Not only did Janice blush bright red at that comment, but she had nothing to say in return. Turning around without a word, she walked for the med bay, leaving behind a laughing Skids and Sideswipe.

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><p><strong>Alright. There was really no point to this chapter except to show how Ratchet and Janice start becoming closer again... ;)<strong>

**Sideswipe obviously doesn't approve that they're just friends. D: I wonder what he's gonna do about that?**

**Anywayyyy thank you all for your reviews, and ideas! (Any ideas I didn't use this chapter, will be used next)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Although I enjoyed receiving ideas from you all, I received an even MORE brilliant idea from a reviewer.. so.. let's just see if I can make my imagination work.. ;)**

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><p>As Janice made her way back to the med bay, she was stopped short by an unexpected surprise. At first the whistle didn't catch her attention, but when somebody yelled, "Hey!" loud, she finally looked over.<p>

And saw Moonracer.

Glaring, Janice crossed her arms and waited as the Cybertronian femme walked over to her. "Can I help you?"

Moonracer smirked. "I just wanted to see how you were treating Ratchet."

Janice glared harder, glancing at Sideswipe, who was watching carefully in the background. He couldn't hear what was going on, though. "Just fine. Not that it's any of your business." Despite the fact that Moonracer towered over Janice, she stood her ground. Moonracer transformed into her alternate mode and activated her holoform.

Once again, Janice felt small. Moonracer's holoform was _gorgeous_ and a pang of jealousy hit Janice, but she shook it off quickly. "You're right, it's not." Janice's eyes softened at those words, but her guard was still up. "But, I just thought I'd give you some tips."

Janice could tell from her smirk that Moonracer was only screwing around with her, but she shrugged. "And what would _they_ be?"

"You see," Moonracer began with a sigh, circling around the human female slowly. "I just really don't get what Ratchet sees in you. You're.. just.. not right looking."

Janice's eyes squinted and her eyebrow raised. "What's that supposed to mean?" Janice knew she had the good looks, but even though Moonracer was only a holoform, it still hurt coming from somebody who looked as beautiful as she did.

Moonracer stopped in front of the other female's face and folded her own arms. "It means," She began. "That with your injured legs an' all, It must be hard to exercise." Then she eyed Janice up and down. "I mean, not to sound _rude_, but it's starting to show." She shrugged with a sly smile. "Pretty soon, if you keep letting yourself go, Ratchet might not be interested in you. After all," She paused with a smirk. "He kept coming back to _me_ for a reason."

"He kept coming back to you because you're an evil harlot," Even though she was defending herself, Janice could still feel the pain of Moonracer's words like a hot knife. "Regardless of species, he's a male, and he has weaknesses just like one."

Moonracer didn't seem fazed by her words. "And soon, you won't be considered a weakness to him. You don't seem to get it, do you?" She continued. "I've known Ratchet for millions of years," Janice swallowed hard. "You've only know him for.. what.. a few weeks? Earth weeks? That's nothing. You're just like every other human femme he's encountered. Trust me," She paused, allowing her words to sink in. "I'm sure he's seen better."

Janice desperately tried to find the words she needed to tell her off, but she couldn't help but focus her mind more on her looks. Maybe Moonracer was right. After all, Janice couldn't move around as much with unpredictable legs. She bit her lip as Moonracer made a 'hmph' noise before her holoform disappeared.

Coming from the radio on the bike, Janice heard her add, "Oh, but if you're so confident that he'll still be interested in you despite your looks," She snickered. "Then go for it." She sped off.

After Janice stood there for what seemed like hours, she looked down at herself. Taking her hands, she gently squeezed her stomach. She grabbed what she thought was 'extreme fat', but, in reality it was nothing at all.

Panicking inside, she was beginning to think Moonracer was right. As she looked at the med bay in the distance, she took a step closer to it and then stopped. Looking around, when she saw no sign of Moonracer, she turned the opposite way and headed for the Autobot hangar.

As she got inside, she noticed that Will and Epps were in there, sitting at a table with a couple holoforms, eating. She swallowed hard, feeling nervous as her stomach rumbled at the sight. It was pizza. Probably one of her favorite foods, too.

Will noticed her presence. "Hey, Janice." He held the box up to her. "Wanna piece?"

Inside, she was screaming yes, but, after looking down at her stomach, she shook her head. "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

Rob looked confused. "You don' like pizza?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. I mean, I like pizza. I'm just not that hungry." She smiled meekly. "Maybe later."

Will looked slightly alert, but said nothing. All he said was "Alrighty," and got back to eating.

Not wanting to watch them eat any longer, she turned away from them and examined the rest of the hangar. "Hello, Janice."

Surprised, she spun around to the voice of Jolt. She smiled, not having seen him in a while. "Hey, Jolt. How are you?"

He nodded. "I'm good. How are you?"

She held her smile. "I'm good also," When her stomach rumbled violently, she quickly placed her arms around it.

Jolt looked down at her stomach. "You hungry?"

She shook her head with a chuckle. "No," She tried to think of an excuse. "I've been traveling a lot, so my stomach is a bit upset about all the plane and car rides."

He nodded, understanding. "I got'cha. So, uh," He chuckled. "I was actually on my way to meet Ratchet. He needs some _electric_ power," He held up his hands, which transformed into electric poles. She could see the flashes of light and hear the soft hum coming from them. "Wanna come?"

She shook her head, having no desire to go there after her incident with Moonracer. "No thanks. I'm gonna head there later on."

He transformed his poles into hands again and smile. "Okay. I'll see you later, then."

"Bye," She said as she watched him walk out. Looking down at her stomach, she felt disgusted as she left the Autobot hangar and went back to the hangar she slept in. Climbing in the familiar bed, she closed her eyes and fell into an uncomfortable, hungry sleep.

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><p>Days had gone by and Janice still hadn't been in the med bay at all since her arrival back on base. Ratchet was always in there and he hardly ever came out. She usually spent most of her time either sleeping, or hanging around the Autobot hangar. As the days turned into two weeks, the only thing she had really been living on was bottled water.<p>

She noticed how weak she had gotten with just two days of little to no food and how thin she had gotten.

Sideswipe was the first to notice, and he wasn't afraid to point it out. It started when she had walked by him, and he glanced at her. Then did a double take. "Janice!" He exclaimed, rushing to her side. He had activated his holoform and grabbed her shoulders. "Why the pit do you look like this?" He eyed her from head to toe. "Janice, what the hell are you doing to yourself? You need to go see Ratchet. Are you okay?"

She tried to pull away, but from the heat and the weakness of her legs, she wasn't strong enough. "I'm fine, Sides."

He folded his arms. "If you're fine, then I'm Primus. _You_ need to see Ratchet. You're sick."

She backed away from him, wiping the hair from her face. "I'm fine, alright?" She began to walk away, but her legs gave in and she hit the ground hard. Groaning, she tried to stand up, but she only fell down again.

"That's it," Sideswipe said as he picked her up. "You're going to the med bay."

When he pulled her up to her feet, she pushed away from him. "Stop it, Sideswipe. I'm fine." She began to walk away, but Sideswipe grabbed her arm a bit too hard and stopped her.

"No, turn around now, or I'll drag you kicking and screaming."

She spun around and glared daggers at him. "Let. Me. _Go._" She yanked her arm away from his grasp. Before he could grab her again, she had already walked the other way.

Not even bothering to go after her, he de-activated his holoform, and his alternate mode sped off towards the med bay.

* * *

><p>When Ratchet heard the knock at the med bay door, he was happy, thinking Janice was coming in for a visit. He hadn't seen her in a couple days, being so busy, and it was nice to see that she was still doing okay.<p>

But then his face twisted into a frown when he saw Sideswipe. Before Ratchet could say a word, Sideswipe spoke. "Before you tell me to get out, there's something you _might_ wanna know."

Ratchet rolled his optics, turning his back on the silver mech. "And _what_ would that be, you irritating scraplet?"

"Janice is sick," He said, and this made Ratchet spin around.

"What?"

"Janice," Sideswipe repeated slowly. "_Is_," after pausing for three seconds, he finished. "Sick."

Ratchet glared at the sarcastic remark, but then his spark beat faster at his words. "How sick?"

"Uh," Sideswipe began, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, for starters she looks like _slag_." He began counting off his fingers. "She's skinnier than any femme I've ever seen, and her legs gave in again. She was too weak to get back up.. I'd say she's pretty fragging sick."

Ratchet got into his face and glared. "Why wasn't she brought to _me_?"

Sideswipe threw his hands in front of him. "Because she refused! I wasn't gonna hurt her anymore. Who knows how sensitive she is from her sickness?" Then Sideswipe paused. "But, she was fine until.." He stopped. "Never mind, it's probably nothing."

Ratchet's eyes widened. He shook Sideswipe violently by the shoulders. "What? Say it!"

"Alright, alright!" Sideswipe said. "I dunno if she has anything to do with it, but a couple of days ago, before Janice started looking sick, I saw her talking to Moonracer."

Ratchet's optics darted back and forth and then Sideswipe could've sworn they had turned red for a split second. "Excuse me," He said, surprisingly calm, but Sideswipe knew this was the type of calm that happens before the storm.

His first mission; to find Janice.

His second; confront Moonracer.

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><p><strong>:) Hope it's gettin' interesting! It's a tad short, I know. :(<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**GAHH sorry for being late! I was at my grandma's the entire weekend and she has no internet. D:**

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><p>To say Ratchet was angry would've been an understatement. He was <em>furious<em>. He desperately looked around for Janice, but saw no sign of her. Sideswipe suggested she might either be in the Autobot hangar, or back in her room. He had already searched the Autobot hangar, but she wasn't there. Sure enough, when he got to her room door, it was closed and locked.

He knocked. "Sideswipe, if that's you, go away. You're not taking me to Ratchet," Came the muffled voice from the other side.

Ratchet tried twisting the door knob, with no luck. "Janice, this _is_ Ratchet. Open the door."

There was a moment of silence. "No."

Ratchet's headed jerked back in total surprise. "Did you just tell me _no_?"

"I'm not coming out there so you can lecture me,"

He sighed. "Janice, I just want to see you. Please open the door."

This time, "Why should I?"

He growled to himself. He knew his next option would be to knock the door down. "Because. It's either you open your door, or I come in here with my alternate mode and push it down and you'll have a room that's doorless until one of the soldiers can make time to come fix it."

Once again, a moment of silence. He could hear her mumble something and then the shuffling of the bed. Soon, he backed away slightly as the doorknob twisted from the other side and soon, it was opening. "Happy?" She asked.

As soon as Ratchet saw her, he was _far_ from happy. Running a scan, which was a habit to him, he immediately picked up a bunch of signs of starvation and weakness. "Oh, _God!" _He exclaimed for the first time as he got down on his knees. He looked at her entire figure, which had become thinner than he had last saw her. "Janice, when you first arrived, you were one hundred and twenty-six pounds. Primus!" He gasped at what his scans told him. "You've dropped twenty-seven pounds!"

He looked up at her face, which was streaked with tears. "I'm sorry, Ratchet."

"What on Earth made you do this?" He asked. She looked away and didn't say a word. Ratchet stood up and glared in her face. "Was it Moonracer?"

At that, she did make eye contact, and Ratchet knew it was as soon as she did. She nodded, "Yes."

"She will _not_ get away with this," He said, shaking his head repeatedly as he began to pace. "No, she won't."

"Ratchet, just leave her alone. She was right and I was only doing this for you."

Ratchet looked astounded. "Doing _what _for me? Killing yourself?" She looked away, but he continued. "Janice, this is the _last_ thing I'd ever want you to do for me! You don't need to change yourself for me." He got down on his knees in front of her. "This was none of her business, and she was only doing it because she was jealous."

"What reason would she have to be jealous?" Janice asked with a shrug. "She has you."

He shook his head and stood up. "After what she's done to you, she never had me." He took her hand and led her back into the room. He noticed how fragile she felt and looked, and how difficult it looked like for her to walk. The sorrow he felt for her was soon replaced by fury as he remembered the culprit who started this whole thing. "I'll be right back," He told her as soon as she was in bed.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

Ratchet paused, looking at the trash can next to her bed. She had been throwing up, that's for sure. He would have to make this quick so he could return to her and help her. He turned around and began to head for the door. "I just have some business to take care of," Then, he closed the door behind him.

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><p>Ratchet knew exactly where he'd fine Moonracer. In the Autobot hangar with all the others. He had clenched and unclenched his fists multiple times, but nothing made his anger go away. As he stormed to the hangar, soldiers looked back and forth between him and each other, knowing something was up. Some even followed the medic where he was going, hoping to see a good show.<p>

It was clear he was pissed about _something_. As he made his way to the hangar, he couldn't help but try and come up with the right words he wanted to desperately throw at Moonracer's face. There really were _no_ words to describe his true feelings for her and the situation she had put Janice in.

Finally, his spark beat a bit faster as he stepped foot in the hangar and examined everybody in it. When his scanners locked onto Moonracer, he growled. He began to march forward. Her back was facing him, and as soon as he got closer to her, he grabbed her by her shoulder and spun her around. "_What_ did you say to Janice?"

Moonracer looked shocked for a split second, but then her optics hardened into a glare. "The truth. Get away from me." She began to walk away, but then Ratchet got a good grip on her arm.

At this point, everybody was watching.

"No," Ratchet said with a mock laugh, pushing her back where she once stood. "You see, you've gone too far this time. I will not tolerate you getting into my life like this! Do you even realize how _insulting_ it is to try and get at me by harming one of my patients?"

Moonracer rolled her optics. "She harmed herself."

"No!" Ratchet yelled. "You verbally abused her, and she did what she thought was right!"

"Then it's her own fault!" Moonracer yelled back, getting in his face. "Primus, Ratchet! Are you really this pathetic? Falling for a stupid human? She doesn't deserve you!"

"She deserves more than what I ever gave you!" He growled. "And regardless of that, she is my _patient_! She was physically harmed, and therefore needs medical attention. You have no right to jeopardize her life with your pathetic jealous feelings towards her!"

"Yeah, ya bitch!" Moonracer glared into the crowd, but could not seem to find the owner of the voice. Ratchet somehow knew it sounded oddly familiar. He glanced at Sideswipe form the corner of his eye.

Moonracer turned her attention back to Ratchet. Stepping forward, she shoved him away from her. "It's not like it matters anyway! The human government will never allow it. You and some pathetic human."

Ratchet looked away.. and laughed. Moonracer slit her eyes in an offended glare, but said nothing. Finally, Ratchet stopped and looked back at her, his face dead serious. "The human government wouldn't like a lot of things. The human government wouldn't like if I killed you right where you stand, but do you think _I_ care?" He took a step forward, and she backed up. "Once upon a time, you were _something_ to me," Her optics softened and she took a step closer to him, hoping this was her chance, but he only backed away. "But now," He shook his head. "Now you're nothing but a third-rate, useless, _bitch_."

Sideswipe, Skids and Mudflap, who were watching the entire scene, along with everybody else, fell to the ground in hysterics. Everybody else looked _shocked_. Nobody had ever heard Ratchet swear in English, let alone at a femme. Nor had they ever really heard him tell one off like that.

"How dare you!" She yelled.

Ratchet glared. "How dare I what? Call it like it is?" He shut his optics. "All you ever did was run around behind my back, whoring around with other mechs." He opened them and glared into the crowd, particularly Ironhide, who backed away. This was one of those times even Ironhide was scared of Ratchet. Then Ratchet focused his glare back on Moonracer. "You don't think I knew?"

She seemed nervous but then straightened herself out quickly. "Does it matter? We were never bonded. We weren't _something_. Besides," She folded her arms with a laugh. "If you knew, then maybe you shouldn't have kept coming back."

"Perhaps you're right," He told her, to her and everybody else's surprise. "But you know what? I'm glad I'm finally starting to realize how you really are, and I sincerely pity the next mech who steps foot into your life," He chuckled and shook his head. "Because it's one _hell_ of a ride."

Her face distorted into a deep frown. "You don't mean that. You're only saying all of this because you're mad! I know you, Ratchet."

"You know _nothing_ of me."

She unfolded her arms and stepped towards him. "I've known you for a long time! How dare you tell me otherwise!"

"The only thing you _knew_ about me, was what I liked to hear and feel during our interfacing!"

Once again, more laughter from the peanut gallery. This time, Sideswipe was yelling, "Oh!" As loud as possible. Soon he was followed by Skids and Mudflap. A couple of the soldiers looked a bit disturbed by that statement, but were impressed at how well Ratchet was able to keep the argument going. Who knew they'd be witnessing this side of him?

Moonracer didn't glare at Sideswipe and the twins, but her face was a mixture of shock and rage as she kept her optics on Ratchet. "What is your problem? You're turning out to be such a _prick!_"

Stepping forward, eyes nearly as red as rubies, he grabbed her by her neck with just enough force to shove her against the wall behind her. "I never want anything to do with you, ever again. I don't ever want to see you around Janice and I definitely do _not_ want to see you even _looking_ at her. If I find out that you did any of those, you will go through _me_ and I will personally escort you to hell."

"Such petty words coming from somebody like _you_, Ratchet," She growled, despite his hand wrapped around her neck plating. "What? You don't have a better threat?"

"That was no threat, Moonracer," He told her. Releasing her from his grip he took a few steps back, never ceasing to glare. "That was a promise." Turning around he began to head out of the hangar, but stopped. Glaring at everybody else, he pointed a finger. "And that goes to anybody else who harms her physically or verbally!"

"So what're you gonna do?" Moonracer yelled after him, making him stop dead in his tracks and turn to face her. "Stay with that.. that _insolent,_ _weak_, _feeble-minded _little girl?"

"First of all," He began. "Janice is a very strong and passionate human being. Second, she is smarter than any femme I've ever come across in my life time. And third, she means the universe to me and I will always stay with her. I don't care who you think you are, Moonracer, but you will never be mine again and I no longer want anything to do with you. So," He turned around and continued walking. "Have a nice life and I hope you have a wonderful time with all the other mechs you've been hiding because I can guarantee you'll move on pretty quickly." With that said, he was gone.

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><p>Ratchet tried to seem calm as he left the hangar, but as soon as he stepped foot outside, he bolted for Janice's room. When he got there, she was laying on the bed, still looking weak. Still, Ratchet smiled when he saw her eating a piece of pizza, and then smiled even more when he saw that Will was there, coaching her on.<p>

"Just keep eating. Okay?" He stopped when he saw Ratchet. He waved. "Hey, just trying to help."

Ratchet nodded as he watched Janice, who was eating like a mad woman. "Can I have a minute?" He looked at Will.

Will nodded and sat the pizza box down. "Yeah, no problem, Ratch'. I've got some stuff to do anyway. I heard about her, so I just came into watch over her while you were ripping Moonracer's face off," He winked before leaving.

Janice, mouth full, looked at Ratchet. "You wipped her 'ace olf?" Ratched raised an eye ridge. She swallowed her food and wiped her mouth off with a napkin before laughing. "Sorry. You ripped her face off?" She repeated.

He nodded. "Yeah, but don't worry about that now." He activated his holoform and bent down on the side of her bed. "Are you feeling better?" He took her hand in his.

She nodded. "A little. I'm probably going to gain more weight than I lost, though." She laughed as she examined her stomach.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. You'll always look your best."

Not expecting that, she blushed and looked away. "Thank you, Ratchet." He stood up and sat down on her bed next to her.

Still holding her hand in his, he sighed. "I know you probably thought I hated you all this time.. with what happened a couple weeks ago and how I seemed to forget about you." He didn't make eye contact when she stared at his face. "And I don't blame you if you hate me back for it."

With a loud sigh, Janice unexpectedly took her hand away from his wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her head against his chest. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you." She sighed again. "I just wish you would've just told me you weren't interested, you know? I'm a human girl. I'm supposed to be oblivious to that kinda stuff."

He chuckled and then stopped. "I never once wasn't _interested_ in you. You also forget that I'm an alien from a different planet with different customs and views on things. Therefore, I was just confused with my own feelings."

She pulled her head away to look at him. "So.. you're saying that this _entire_ time-"

"Yes."

She closed her eyes, smiling and at the same time, trying to take deep breaths to calm her now fast-paced beating heart. "Would've been nice to know like.. before Sideswipe put me through hell with all his plans."

Ratchet laughed out loud for the first time in a long time. "So, he was _really_ just trying to help? There was nothing going on between you?"

She shook her head, but then paused. "Nah, I mean.. he's cute and maybe I _tried_ to stop thinking about you and go for him, but nothing worked."

"I guess I'm just irresistible," He sighed.

She laughed and gently slapped his chest. "Funny. But no." Then she winked. "Unless you tried, maybe."

"I'd try for you. I'd try everything harder for you."

She blushed again, and looked away. "Okay, stop." She laughed.

He pouted. "What? Hey! This is hard for me and I already feel like an idiot about it.." He folded his arms, but couldn't hide the smile from forming across his face even if he tried.

"Why?" She raised an eyebrow. "Don't, you're doing a good job. I just said stop because I feel like my face is going to fall off if I keep blushing.. Plus, if Sideswipe were here and heard you say that, he'd definitely make a sexual remark."

He chuckled and then it slowly faded into silence. The two sat there in awkward silence for a couple seconds before Ratchet shifted his position to get a better look of her. "So," He began. "does the offer still stand?"

Janice could tell he was having trouble asking that question, mainly because he wasn't used to it, but then she smiled. "It never went away." Knowing she'd likely have to do all the work, she scooted herself closer to him and placed her hands behind his neck. "You need to start learning human customs," She winked.

"Be my teacher?" He grinned as he gently pushed his face closer, closing the space between their mouths. He knew, as their lips touched, that she was kissing just a mere hologram, and she knew the same thing, but as long as their feelings were mutual and the kiss still symbolized some sort of a feeling, it was acceptable.

As they pulled apart, Janice leaned her forehead against his and grinned into his eyes. "Not bad, student."

With a laugh, he put his lips to hers again, pushing her back down.

* * *

><p>Days had gone by and Janice was beginning to look back to normal again. Her weight was roughly 130 and she could walk with ease, though she was still cautious. She was sitting on the human-sized desk in the medical bay as she watched Ratchet's holoform write on papers that she assumed were the checkup results for the soldiers.<p>

She smirked. "You look at those papers more than you look at me." Sure it was a joke, but in a way, she was being honest. He had been extremely busy lately, especially since he had to travel back to the States to get her.

With a sigh he looked up at her and smiled. "I'm sorry." Standing up, he walked around the other side of the desk to stand in front of her. Putting his hands on her waist, he leaned his head in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him just as Sideswipe walked in.

"Oh for crying out loud!" He groaned, turning around to look the other way. "This is a medical bay, not a porn setup."

Pulling away, Ratchet turned around and glared at Sideswipe as Janice laughed. Janice folded her arms. "Pity. I was hoping you'd join us." Sideswipe spun around with a look of pure disgust. Ratchet gave her the same look. "It's a joke!" She growled.

Sideswipe shuddered. "Gross?" Then he leaned against the wall. "But, I just wanted to tell you that I'm ready for my pay check."

"Pardon?" Janice asked with a laugh.

"I think it's only fair to assume that I was the one who got you two together. I deserve some sort of payment," He said.

Ratchet glared. "How about I pay you in wrenches? You wanna try and catch them, or do you want me to personally hand them to you?"

Sideswipe immediately spun around and headed for the door. "I like my metal dent-free. See ya! Have fun interfacing, kiddos!" He paused. "Oh, and just a reminder that the medical bay walls are not sound proof-OW!" There was a loud 'clank' and then another as the wrench hit the floor.

"Get out," Ratchet glared, standing in his mighty bipedal mode.

"Alright!" Sideswipe yelled, rubbing where it had hit. As soon as he left, Ratchet transformed back into his alternate mode and re-activated his holoform. With a smirk, he walked back over to Janice and stood in front of her, putting a hand on her cheek. "Now," He sighed as he leaned in closer. "Where were we?"

Placing her hands around his neck again, she leaned forward as well. "I believe this is right."

Chuckling, Ratchet kissed her again passionately, not even caring about his work at all.

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><p><strong>Idk if this should be the end or not... D: What do you think?<strong>


	13. Epilogue

**So, I decided with an epilogue! Because I wanna start another story. :) Janice and Ratchet will still be in it, but it'll focus more on Sideswipe! And Sunny will be in it, too.**

**It's 10:44 AM.. i should be in a driving lesson right now.. but sadly, it got moved to 1:30 in the afternoon, which blows because I woke up at 8:00AM to get ready... and I only got 6 hours of sleep. I'm tired and hungry. :(**

**But I also have a craving to write this chapter! So.. on with the story!**

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><p>Sideswipe sighed as he looked around at everybody moving slowly to the beat. He didn't quite understand how humans could find this music appealing and that dancing fun. It was all too slow for his liking. His gaze focused on Janice and Ratchet, who were talking while they moved, occasionally laughing and.. grossly enough.. kissing.<p>

It was some annual ball for the military in some giant, well decorated building. Nearly everybody had a date, except him. There were tons of single women on base. Some even attractive to his liking, but they were all too good of friends. He would have felt awkward. Janice tried explaining to him that it's okay to take friends, but he had refused.

Now he wished he did ask somebody, instead of sit around all day and watch. The only good news he had really heard was that his brother, Sunstreaker, was on his way to the US from Cybertron, along with some of the others. He'd heard the Wreckers; Leadfoot, Topspin and Roadbuster were coming down with him and nearly had a spark attack from the excitement. Janice would definitely love _them_. He hadn't seen them in years.

As the song finally ended, Sideswipe looked up to see Janice standing in front of him. "Stop being a bum and find somebody to dance with," She was wearing a dress that came just a little below the knee, with some massive, skinny heels that probably could kill somebody if she kicked them without much effort.

"Uh, should you be _wearing_ those?" He asked, ignoring her comment and pointing to her shoes. It was true that she hadn't fallen in a year, but he always worried that she would fall again.

Janice folded her arms and then shrugged, sitting down next to him. "I don't know. Ratchet gave me crap for it, too."

"I'm surprised he didn't make you switch," Sideswipe said.

"He did, but then I pouted and told him I just wanted to feel tall for once," She smiled proud.

"And?" Sideswipe smirked at her.

Janice laughed. "He gave in, obviously," She pointed to her shoes. Sideswipe shook his head with a smile, but said nothing. Janice furrowed her eyebrows, obviously knowing him long enough to see that he was upset about something. "You okay?"

He flinched as if he was just awoken from a bad dream. Quickly shaking it off, he nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Just.. out of it." He paused. "Are you guys leaving to go to the US soon?"

She nodded. "Yeah, in a couple days. Maybe earlier or later, depending on weather and if Ratchet's in the mood for another plane flight."

"I was wondering," Sideswipe began, looking around nervously before making eye contact with her again. "Uh, if I could go to the States with you.. and Ratchet."

Janice shrugged. "I don't see why it'd be a problem."

"I do," Sideswipe said. "Ratchet will never allow it."

"Why?"

Sideswipe tried not to smirk. "Because. I'd be interfering on your 'private' time."

Janice glared at him. "Sometimes I hate you." Then she laughed hitting his arm. "I'll ask him, okay? He'll say yes to me. He always does." She laughed. Sideswipe made a whipping noise. "Oh, shut up." Janice laughed again.

Sideswipe grinned as Ratchet walked up to them next.

"Hello," He said.

Janice stood up and took his hands. "Hey, so I have a small request."

Sideswipe stood up as well, standing straighter than usual. Ratchet looked at him oddly before turning his attention back to Janice. "What?"

"Sideswipe wants to know if he can come to the US with us when we leave." Sideswipe wasn't expecting her to blurt it right then and there, but at the same time, he was. Of course, when he saw Ratchet's face, he knew the answer would be no.

"Janice,"

"He really wants to go and he's my best friend and you're both my guardians.. I don't see why he should be denied this simple request," She pouted her lip and opened her eyes wide.

Sideswipe had to try not to laugh. Ratchet seemed to look back and forth between the two multiple times before coming to a sigh. "Alright, fine. He can come." He pointed a finger and glared at Sideswipe. "But you better behave, you little-"

"Thank you!" Janice yelled, interrupting him by sticking her lips on his to shut him up further.

"Oh, come on!" Sideswipe said, averting his eyes and covering them with his hand. "Warn me when you're about to do that shit!" He made a gagging noise. "_Disgusting_!"

Janice smirked when she pulled away. "What did I tell you? He says yes to everything."

Ratchet frowned at her and Sideswipe made whipping noises again. The medic glared at the prankster. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, my dear, old, strict, harsh, cruel, wrench-throwing friend," He paused. "That you are badly whipped."

"Definition of this said whipped?" He asked curiously.

Janice began to lead him away from Sideswipe. "It means Sideswipe's going to get his ass kicked if he doesn't shut it." Smiling, she led Ratchet away before looking back at Sideswipe. "It'll be a blast, Sides."

* * *

><p>"So what's the real reason why you want to come to the Unites States?" Janice asked him as she got ready to leave with both of her guardians. "Because it's definitely not 'cuz you love us and you'll miss us."<p>

Sideswipe looked hurt, but Janice was smart enough to see it was faked. "Oh, how could you say such a thing?" He said with obvious sarcasm, placing a hand on his chest where his heart would be if he were human. "But in all honesty, the chicks."

Janice rolled her eyes. "Figured." Then she smirked. "Sorry, but all the girls in the United States are lesbian."

"Well then that explains why you're with Ratchet," He folded his arms with a smirk.

"Touché," She pointed a finger at him. "But is that really _all_ you're going for?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's better than hot ass Saudi Arabia. We may be technologically advanced robots, but it's a pain in the ass turning on our internal cooling vents every three slagging seconds."

"At least you have internal cooling vents,"

"Yeah," He sighed. "True, but I guess I'm also going because I'm meeting my bro there."

"Sunny?"

"_Sunstreaker_," He corrected quickly. "If he ever heard you call him Sunny, he'd beat your aft to Mars or something."

"Sorry," Janice bit her lip. "I'll try to remember, but why is he going to the US? Wouldn't it make more sense to just land here?"

Sideswipe nodded, "Yeah, but the stupid United States government wants to talk to them first before they come over here."

"Them?" She questioned.

"Oh, yeah. We're getting more Autobots. Sunny, the Wreckers, Wheeljack and Mirage.. All the good ones, though Mirage is kind of an asshole," Sideswipe scratched his head as he thought of all the names, trying not to forget any.

"We have alternate modes for them?" She asked, zipping one of her bags.

He nodded. "Yeah. My bro will be-"

"Same as you?"

"Uh, _no_," Sideswipe glared. "Frag no. Just because we're twins doesn't mean we have to act like it. He'll be a junkyard scrap before he's the same as me. My alternate mode is my personal pick. He can be a dinghy boat for all I care."

"What's his alternate mode?" Janice asked as she finished chuckling. She loved listening to Sideswipe rant. If you got him going long enough, he kept going on and on forever.

"He picked a Lambo," Sideswipe shrugged.

"A Lamborghini?" Janice's jaw dropped. "No way! Ugh, would he be willing to-"

"Give you a ride?" Sideswipe slit his eyes. "No." He lightly shoved her. "Besides, I don't think Ratchet would like that. And what the hell's wrong with me? I thought you said _I_ was cool!"

Janice shook her head with a laugh. "Blah, blah, blah," She mumbled, zipping up her last bag.

"What?" Sideswipe continued to glare. "Are you mocking me?"

She nodded and looked up at him. "Yes," She folded her arms, smiling at him. "You know I'm messing with you, Sides. So," She sighed, walking past him. "Tell me about the Wreckers?"

"They're like this trio of.. awesomeness," Sideswipe said. She raised an eyebrow at him as he continued. "Leadfoot, Roadbuster and Topspin are their names."

"Alternate modes?"

"Racing stock cars. The good ones, too," He told her. "Leadfoot chose the Juan Pablo Montoya. We send them all pictures before they arrive so they can pick and be ready as soon as they get here. Anyway, Roadbuster chose Dale Earnhardt Jr.," He paused and scratched his head as Janice drooled. "And.. Topspin.. oh yeah. Jimmie Johnson."

"No, _way!_" Janice squealed. "You know how awesome that is?"

Once again, he slit his eyes at her. "Yeah, it's fantastic. Uh, are you forgetting somebody?"

She laughed as she took him in for a hug. "Oh, of course. How can I forget you, Sides?" She giggled, pulling away.

"You do it quite often," He said, still glaring.

She grinned. "Sorry," Grabbing a bag, she put it on her shoulder and groaned. "Ugh," Picking up the other bag, she tossed it to him and he barely caught it. "Here, make yourself useful."

"Jee, thanks. Maybe this was a bad idea," He sighed as he followed her out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Alllright. Just a short epilogue. Hopefully you'll see the first chapter to the new story soon. It's going to be more on Sideswipe this time.. and likely a new love interest for him. ;)<strong>

**It might be a while till you see the first chapter because I need to update other stories! Like.. I NEED TO! D: I've abandoned them all to finish this! So, if you'd like, while you wait for the new sequel to come out (If you're still interested) please check them out!**

**Also- I'd like to mention _Lunar Mist_, who gave me the idea of Moonracer telling Janice she's getting over weight! All her idea! :) Thanks! I know it's a bit late for me to say this and I apologize! D:**

**And to _keacdragon_ for the idea of the dance thing. Except I didn't include Moonracer. D: Maybe she'll be in the sequel! Dunno yet!**

**And to _xxjazz's girlxx:_ I think I'll use some of that idea for the sequel if you don't mind. :)**


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